Month: January 2024

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he has made a decision on how the United States will respond to the drone attack that killed three U.S. soldiers and injured dozens of others at a base in northeast Jordan, by Iran-backed militants. The attack was the first U.S. deaths by Iranian-back militant groups in months since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7.

Biden was asked leaving the White House as headed for fundraisers in Florida on Tuesday morning: “Have you made a decision how you’ll respond to the attack,” the President replied: “Yes.”  When asked if this upcoming response will actually deter them, Biden said, “we’ll see.”  Thus far, retaliatory strikes by the U.S. have not deterred any of the Iranian-backed groups in the region.

Biden’s remarks came after he vowed to retaliate and “hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing” for the deadly attack, which injured more than 30 soldiers.  The President reiterated that the U.S. is not looking for a “wider war in the Middle East,” explaining, “that’s not what I’m looking for.” When asked if he holds Iran responsible for the attack, the president said he does “in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied the country’s involvement in the drone strike, saying in a statement published by Reuters: “Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the U.S. base. There is a conflict between U.S. forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks.”

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UPS announced it will cut 12,000 jobs this year amid a slowdown in delivery volume, making up some 2.4% of its more than 500,000 global workforce. A UPS spokesperson confirmed that the job cuts would not impact union-represented roles. Jobs throughout the world and in all functions would be affected at the company, and 75% of the reductions would come in the first half of the year, the spokesperson said.

The company reported during a company earnings call Tuesday that the daily average shipping volume is down 7.4 percent domestically, and there’s been an 8.3 percent decrease in domestic shipping. UPS announced its fourth quarter revenue was $24.9 billion, down 7.8 percent from $27 billion the year before. UPS says that the cut could save the company $1 billion, citing the softer demand and higher union labor costs. Amid the declining revenue and job cuts, the company also reported returning $7.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks.

UPS CEO Carol Tomé said in a statement: “2023 was a unique, and quite candidly, difficult and disappointing year. We experienced declines in volume, revenue and operating profits and all three of our business segments. Through it all we remained focused on controlling what we could control, stayed on strategy and strengthened our foundation for future growth.”  Tomé also announced that UPS would ask employees to return to the office five days a week this year and said the company is exploring options to sell its “highly cyclical” freight brokerage business, Coyote

In July, UPS agreed to a contract with the Teamsters union that pushed the top pay for experienced full-time drivers to $49 an hour and $21 an hour starting pay for a part-time worker.

UPS shares were down more than 8% in Tuesday trading following the announcement.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/ups-stock-market-open-company-softer-expected-full-106791152

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Charles Littlejohn, the former Internal Revenue Service contractor who leaked the tax records of former President Donald Trump to The New York Times, in addition to leaking the tax records of billionaires including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to ProPublica, was sentenced Monday to five years in prison. Littlejohn, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes at a hearing at the federal courthouse in Washington, and will also have to pay a $5,000 fine.

Prosecutors said that Littlejohn “weaponized his access to unmasked taxpayer data to further his own personal, political agenda, believing that he was above the law.” Littlejohn pleaded guilty in October, and prosecutors sought the statutory maximum of five years in federal prison, saying that he “abused his position by unlawfully disclosing thousands of Americans’ federal tax returns and other private financial information to multiple news organizations.”

Judge Reyes said during sentencing: “You can be an outstanding person and commit bad acts. What you did in targeting the sitting president of the United States was an attack on our constitutional democracy.” Reyes described Littlejohn’s actions as a deliberate, complex, multiyear criminal scheme, but said she believed he “sincerely felt a moral imperative” to act as he did.

Littlejohn briefly addressed the court before receiving his sentence, saying that he “acted out of a sincere but misguided belief that I was serving the public.” Littlejohn said that taxpayers deserved to know how easy it was for the wealthy to avoid paying into the system, and he believes that Americans make their best decisions when properly informed: “I made my decision with the full knowledge that I would likely end up in a courtroom.”

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On Monday, Iranian officials denied involvement in the fatal drone attack on a U.S. base over the weekend. The drone strike on Sunday killed three U.S. service members, and injured thirty-four at the Tower 22 base in Jordan, which is close to the southeastern border with Syria. Sunday’s attack were noted to be a major escalation in the war, marking the first U.S. casualties since the fighting started.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the various groups backed by Tehran in the Middle East do not take direct orders from Iran, sharing in a statement:  “”War is not a solution. An immediate cease-fire in Gaza can lead to the return of peace … The Islamic Republic has no involvement in the resistance groups’ decisions on the way they support the Palestinian nation or defend themselves and the people of their countries in the face of any aggression and occupation.” President Biden had blamed the attack on “radical Iran-backed militant groups” and vowed the U.S. would respond.

Following the start of Israeli’s war against Hamas in October, the United States has battled Iranian-backed militants across the Middle East. Iranian-supported militias have attacked U.S. bases more than 150 times in Iraq and Syria, while another proxy group backed by Tehran, the Houthis, are fighting American forces in the Red Sea and in Yemen.

Iranian spokesperson Kanaani on Monday called the accusations that Tehran was involved in the Jordan attack “baseless,” and said the accusations were “a blame game and a plot by those who try to protect their own interests and cover up their problems by dragging the U.S. into a new conflict in the region and provoking it to intensify the crisis.”

The United Nations Iran’s representatives have also denied the charges that Tehran had anything to do with the attack in Jordan, saying: “The representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the United Nations on Sunday night told IRNA that Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the US base. It further clarified that there is a conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks. The Iranian mission in the UN issued the statement as some of the critics of the administration of US President and hawkish Republicans were in their efforts to link the attack on Al-Tanf base to Iran.”

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According to United States Central Command, three U.S. troops were killed and over two dozen were injured by Iranian-backed militants, following an aerial drone attack on a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border. The strike marked the first line-of-fire deaths of U.S. troops since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. According to officials, the attack occurred at the Tower 22 outpost. The White House clarified that the attack occurred early Sunday in Jordan, or late Saturday Eastern time.

In a statement, President Joe Biden said that the U.S. was still gathering the facts surrounding the “wholly unjust attack.” Biden said: “Today, America’s heart is heavy. Last night, three U.S. service members were killed — and many wounded — during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border.” Biden said the three service members were “unwavering in their bravery. Unflinching in their duty. Unbending in their commitment to our country… they were patriots in the highest sense … We will strive to be worthy of their honor and valor. We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt — we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing.”  The troops have not been identified pending notification of next of kin. An official with the White House National Security Council said that some of the injured service members received serious wounds from shrapnel and some were being screened for traumatic brain injuries.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq released a statement Sunday taking credit for four drone attacks on Al-Shaddadi Base in Syria and the Al-Rukban and Al-Tanf bases at the Syria-Jordan border. The fourth attack was on the Zevulun naval facility in Israel.

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Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that she thinks some protests in the United States demanding a ceasefire in Gaza could be linked to Russia, and that the FBI should conduct a probe into their funding.

In an interview with CNN, Pelosi was asked whether opposition to President Joe Biden’s policy in the war in Gaza could hurt the Democrat in November’s presidential election, when she replied that “for them to call for a cease-fire is Mr. Putin’s message, Mr. Putin’s message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message .. “I think some of these protesters are spontaneous, and organic, and sincere. Some I think are connected to Russia. Some financing should be investigated and I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.”  Pelosi provided no evidence for her claims.

Pelosi’s comments marked the first time a prominent U.S. lawmaker has accused Russia’s leader of backing U.S. protesters calling for a ceasefire. Her comments were dismissed as “unsubstantiated smears” by some rights advocates, who said such remarks amounted to dehumanization of the Palestinian people. Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said: “It is unconscionable that an individual with such influence in this nation would spread unsubstantiated smears targeting those who seek an end to the slaughter of civilians in Gaza and a just resolution to that conflict. Her comments once again show the negative impact of decades of dehumanization of the Palestinian people.”

The U.N. has demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, but Washington has vetoed resolutions for such calls in the United Nations Security Council, saying it would let Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, regroup and rebuild.

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