President Joe Biden gave his State of the Union Address to the nation Tuesday night; the earthquake in Turkey is now the deadliest in more than a decade; three tons of cocaine was confiscated in the middle of the ocean; and a new NBA scoring champion is crowned. These stories and more highlight the daily rundown for Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023.
President Biden addresses nation
“I am committed to work with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world. But make no mistake about it, as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did,” President Biden said Tuesday night.
The president addressed China in his State of the Union Address following a week of Chinese spy balloon headlines. On the foreign policy front, he once again assured Ukraine of America’s support.
Biden also touted legislation passed during his term like the infrastructure bill and called for a now-divided Congress to come together to pass bipartisan legislation. But the divide between the parties was obvious on the House floor during the speech, particularly when President Biden asked Republicans to raise the debt ceiling. He was booed when he told the American people that some Republicans want to end Medicare and Social Security.
“Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” Biden said, adding, “Anyone who doubts it, contact my office. I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.”
Things calmed down when the president said Medicare and Social Security would be off the table.
Turkey earthquake claims 11,000 victims
The death toll from Monday’s catastrophic earthquake in Syria and Turkey has climbed to more than 11,000 victims as of Wednesday morning, making it the deadliest earthquake in more than a decade.
Rescue crews are growing tired from recovering bodies in strenuous conditions, but as time passes, more help has been able to arrive into the region. More than 79,000 aid personnel from around the world are assisting Turkey.
Help from the U.S. is set to arrive today. Two teams made up of 80 personnel each, 12 dogs, and 170,000 pounds of specialized tools will be used on the ground helping in recovery efforts.
Battery fire breaks out on United flight
Seven people on board a United flight were taken to the hospital after a lithium-ion battery fire broke out in the main cabin of the plane. Several crew members put themselves in harm’s way to put the fire out.
The airplane had to circle back and land in San Diego to tend to the emergency. The battery pack belonged to a customer on board.
Three tons of cocaine floating in ocean
More than three tons of cocaine was found floating in a remote part of the pacific ocean. Officials said it seemed to be dropped there by an international drug-smuggling ring.
New Zealand police called it the nation’s largest-ever drug seizure and said the discovery has dealt a “significant financial blow” to the drug smugglers. Officials also say the cocaine was likely headed for Australia. It was valued at more than $300 million.
New Zealand police also said the three tons of cocaine would be enough to service the Australian market for an entire year and would be more than New Zealand would use in 30 years.
Tech companies continue layoffs
One after the other, companies in the tech-sector continue to announce job layoffs. The latest being the company Zoom. It is cutting their workforce by as much as 15% ahead of what they call “economic uncertainty.”
Zoom had boomed during the pandemic with so many jobs going remote and people turning to their video-chat software. About 1,300 Zoom employees are expected to be impacted by the latest tech job cut.
LeBron James breaks NBA scoring record
The man known as “King James” was officially crowned NBA’s all time scoring champion. He surpassed legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was in attendance to officially pass the torch and the title to James by handing him the game ball.
