Month: March 2023

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that his country plans to give Ukraine around a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets — making Poland the first NATO member to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s urgent requests for warplanes. President Duda said Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes “within the next few days” and that the rest needed servicing and would be supplied later (the Polish word he used to describe their number can mean between 11-19).

Duda said of the aircrafts: “They are in the last years of their functioning but they are in good working condition,” adding that Poland’s air force would replace the planes it gives to Ukraine with South Korea-made FA-50 fighters and American-made F-35s.  He did not say whether other countries would be making the same move, although Slovakia has claimed it would send its disused MiGs to Ukraine. Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said some other countries (who he did not name) with MiGs also had pledged them to Kyiv.

NATO allies have expressed hesitancy to share fighter jets, despite pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Western supporters.  Ukraine had several dozen MiG-29s before Russia’s invasion that it inherited in the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it’s unclear how many of them remain in service after more than a year of fighting.Duda made the announcement during a joint news conference in Warsaw with the visiting Czech president, Petr Pavel.

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On Thursday, eleven of the biggest banks in the U.S. announced a $30 billion rescue package for California-based First Republic Bank, in an effort to prevent them from becoming the third bank to fail in less than a week. First Republic serves a similar clientele as Silicon Valley Bank, which failed Friday after depositors withdrew about $40 billion. First Republic — which had deposits totaling $176.4 billion as of Dec. 31 — was facing a similar crisis.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have agreed to each put $5 billion in uninsured deposits into First Republic. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs would deposit $2.5 billion each into the bank. The remaining $5 billion would consist of $1 billion contributions from BNY Mellon, State Street, PNC Bank, Truist and US Bank. The group of 11 banks confirmed in a statement that other unnamed banks had seen large amounts of withdrawals of uninsured deposits, which are those that exceed the $250,000 level insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The banks said in their statement: “The actions of America’s largest banks reflect their confidence in the country’s banking system.”  U.S. banking regulators also issued a statement in support of the bank rescue package. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said: “This show of support by a group of large banks is most welcome, and demonstrates the resilience of the banking system.” 

On Monday, First Republic’s shares dropped more than 60% even after the bank said it had secured additional funding from JPMorgan and the Federal Reserve. The bank’s shares were down as much as 36% on Thursday, but rallied after reports the rescue package was in the works and closed up nearly 9%.  The collapse last week of Silicon Valley Bank was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the demise of Washington Mutual in 2008. New York-based Signature Bank was shuttered two days.

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On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate appointed former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti the latest U.S. ambassador to India. Former U.S. Ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster, stepped down from the post in 2021 following the 2020 presidential election.

The 52-year-old Garcetti had been facing pushback from from some Democrats after an investigation into his top adviser Rick Jacobs over sexual harassment allegations, stemming from Garcetti’s nine years as the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles. The Senate voted 52 to 42 in favor of appointing Garcetti to the post, which has been vacant for two years. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., voted against Garcetti’s appointment, while Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, gave him their support.

The Foreign Relations Committee voted last week, 13 to 8 in favor of moving Garcetti’s nomination to Wednesday’s full Senate vote.  Pres. Biden initially nominated Garcetti in July 2021, then re-nominated him in January after the original nomination lapsed.  Following the vote, Garcetti said in a statement: “I’m thrilled with today’s outcome, which was a decisive and bipartisan decision to fill a critical post that has been vacant for far too long. Now the hard work begins … I’m deeply grateful to President Biden and the White House for the confidence and support throughout this process, and to all Senators on both sides of the aisle — whether they voted for me or not — for their thoughtful consideration. I’m ready and eager to begin my service representing our critical interests in India.”

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Adult film star Stormy Daniels, who alleged she had an affair with former President Donald Trump, met Wednesday with the investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which is probing an alleged “hush money” payment made to her on Trump’s behalf.

Clark Brewster, the attorney for Daniels, said that the meeting took place Wednesday and came at the request of prosecutors, writing on Twitter:  “Stormy responded to questions and has agreed to make herself available as a witness, or for further inquiry if needed.” In her own tweet, Daniels (real name is Stephanie Clifford) thanked her attorney for “helping me in our continuing fight for truth and justice.”

Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump’s then-attorney, paid $130,000 to Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign, for her silence about the alleged affair. Cohen went to prison for campaign finance violations stemming from the payment to Daniels, and testified for a second time Wednesday before a grand jury investigating the matter. Cohen’s testimony came about a week after the Manhattan prosecutor invited Trump to appear before the grand jury; however, according to his attorney Joseph Tacopina, it is ‘an offer he will not accept … We, and most election law experts, believe [the case] is with absolutely no legal merit.’  An invitation to testify often precedes an indictment in New York.  Trump has denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels and said he has done nothing wrong.

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