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Biden in farewell U.N. address says peace still possible in conflicts in Mideast and Ukraine [Video]
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Biden in farewell U.N. address says peace still possible in conflicts in Mideast and Ukraine [Video]

President Joe Biden declared in his final address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the U.S. must not retreat from the world, as Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon edged toward all-out war and Israels bloody operation against Hamas in Gaza neared the one-year mark.Biden used his wide-ranging address to speak to a need to end the Middle East conflict and the 17-month-old civil war in Sudan and to highlight U.S. and Western allies’ support for Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He also raised concern over artificial intelligence and its potential to be used for repression.His appearance before the international body offered Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case to keep up robust support for Ukraine, which could be in doubt if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Biden insisted that despite global conflicts, he remains hopeful for the future.Ive seen a remarkable sweep of history,” Biden said. I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair but I do not.We are stronger than we think when the world acts together, he added.Biden came to office promising to rejuvenate U.S. relations around the world and to extract the U.S. from forever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that consumed American foreign policy over the last 20 years.I was determined to end it, and I did, Biden said of the Afghanistan exit, calling it a hard decision but the right decision. He acknowledged that it was “accompanied by tragedy with the deaths of 13 American troops and hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal.But his foreign policy legacy may ultimately be shaped by his administration’s response to two of the biggest conflicts in Europe and the Middle East since World War II.There will always be forces that pull our countries apart, Biden said, rejecting a desire to retreat from the world and go it alone. He said, “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart.The Pentagon announced Monday that it was sending a small number of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East to supplement the roughly 40,000 already in the region. All the while, the White House insists Israel and Hezbollah still have time to step back and de-escalate.Full scale war is not in anyones interest, Biden said, and despite escalating violence, a diplomatic solution is the only path to peace.Biden had a hopeful outlook for the Middle East when he addressed the U.N. just a year ago. In that speech, Biden spoke of a sustainable, integrated Middle East coming into view.At the time, economic relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors were improving with implementation of the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration.Biden’s team helped resolve a long-running Israel-Lebanon maritime dispute that had held back gas exploration in the region. And Israel-Saudi normalization talks were progressing, a game-changing alignment for the region if a deal could be landed.I suffer from an oxymoron: Irish optimism, Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met on the sidelines of last year’s U.N. gathering. He added, “If you and I, 10 years ago, were talking about normalization with Saudi Arabia … I think wed look at each other like, Whos been drinking what?Eighteen days later, Biden’s Middle East hopes came crashing down. Hamas militants stormed into Israel killing 1,200, taking some 250 hostage, and spurring a bloody war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza and led the region into a complicated downward spiral.Now, the conflict is threatening to metastasize into a multi-front war and leave a lasting scar on Biden’s presidential legacy.Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes again Tuesday as the death toll from a massive Israeli bombardment climbed to nearly 560 people and thousands fled from southern Lebanon. It’s the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.Israel has urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons, saying the military would conduct extensive strikes against the militant group.Hezbollah, meanwhile, has launched dozens of rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes last week that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters. Dozens were also killed last week and hundreds more wounded after hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants exploded, a sophisticated attack that was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.Israel’s leadership launched its counterattacks at a time of growing impatience with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s persistent launching of missiles and drones across the Israel-Lebanon border after Hamas started the war with its brazen attack on Oct. 7.Biden reiterated his call on the parties to agree to a cease-fire and hostage release deal, saying it’s time to “end this war” even as hopes for such a deal are fading as the conflict drags on.Biden, in his address, called for the sustainment of Western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Biden helped galvanize an international coalition to back Ukraine with weapons and economic aid in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 assault on Ukraine.We cannot grow weary,” Biden said. “We cannot look away.Biden has managed to keep up American support in the face of rising skepticism from some Republican lawmakers and Trump about the cost of the conflict.At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressing Biden to loosen restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles so that Ukrainian forces can hit deeper in Russia.So far Zelenskyy has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.Putin has warned that Russia would be at war with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.Biden and Harris are scheduled to hold separate meetings with Zelenskyy in Washington on Thursday. Ukrainian officials were also trying to arrange a meeting for Zelenskyy with Trump this week.The president also sounded an alarm about the rapid advances in artificial intelligence development, particularly around disinformation, respect for human life and the potential exploitation by totalitarian powers. He told the world leaders, “There may well be no greater test of our leadership than how we deal with A.I.”We must make certain that the awesome capabilities of A.I. will be used to uplift and empower everyday people, not to give dictators more powerful shackles on the human spirit,” he added.Biden struck a wistful tone in his remarks, peppering his speech with references to his first time attending the General Assembly more than 50 years ago, and quoting Irish poetry.Biden held up his decision to step aside up as an instructive moment as he addressed a gathering that has no small share of totalitarian and nondemocratic leaders.Some things are more important than staying in power,” Biden said. “Its your people that matter the most. Never forget, we are here to serve the people. Not the other way around.

College football player raising 5 siblings since his mom’s death [Video]
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College football player raising 5 siblings since his mom’s death [Video]

Armorion Smith pressed his palms together over the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes and leaned against the kitchen sink.The 21-year-old Michigan State defensive back needed a moment in the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home he shares with five younger siblings. He has a lot on his plate, more than most college students and certainly more than most student-athletes.His mother, Gala Gilliam, died of breast cancer a month ago and without a father in the family’s life, Smith has become the head of the household while studying criminal justice and playing major college football. He became the legal guardian for four siblings on Sept. 11.”My cards were given to me,” Smith said softly with a steely gaze, standing on a small porch behind the home as the sun set on a recent evening. “I didn’t choose my deck of cards.”His 19-year-old sister, Aleion, is in charge while he is gone for about 12 hours most days to be a student and athlete. Appreciating her selfless sacrifice, Smith said he hopes to help her find a way to start taking classes next semester while juggling her role with the family.Smith looks and sounds determined to help his siblings be happy, healthy and safe. His teammates watch in awe.”I couldn’t even begin to imagine if I was in his situation,” linebacker Jordan Hall said. “He’s in a tough spot, but he is one of the strongest guys I have ever known.”Smith grew up in in Detroit, recalling how he was homeless at times and hopped from house to house to find places to sleep. He was a three-star prospect at River Rouge High School and attended the University of Cincinnati for two years.After Smith’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 during his sophomore season with the Bearcats, he transferred last year to be closer to home. The life lessons from his mom continued.When Smith, holding his 2-year-old sister, arrived at a recent fundraiser, each of his other siblings introduced themselves to people there to support the family and shook their hands while making eye contact.”That’s from my mom,” he said.She was trying to prepare him for what was to come before she died Aug. 19. She was 41.”She used to tell me everything: ‘Get hard’ and all of that,” he recalled. “And I see why she was under a lot of stress.”Smith keeps notes on his phone to help manage busy days that start before dawn, when he is up to make sure his two sisters and three brothers are awake before he leaves for school. Smith gets a lift from a teammate or a ride-hailing service to make the 4-mile trip to campus for therapy on his surgically repaired shoulders and meetings with the football team before going to classes and practice.His eldest sister gets their 16-, 15- and 11-year-old brothers Armond, Avaugn and Arial ready for school. There are two varieties of Cap’n Crunch atop the refrigerator in a kitchen that didn’t have a table or chairs during a recent visit.The school-age brothers rely on a ride-hailing company to get them to school and back while their oldest sister cares for their toddler sister, Amaira.”Me and my sister got to work together to keep this all afloat,” he said. “While I’m in college sports, she’s got to be able to take care of everything that I can’t do, like pick up where I left off, while I’m taking care of business.”He and the siblings he is now responsible for at least have a home thanks in part to a GoFundMe campaign.While Smith’s story is unusual in college sports the NCAA does not track the number of athletes whose day-to-day activities include caring for a dependent a 2020 study from the National Center for Education Statistics found 19.5% of undergraduate college students had a dependent and 5.5% of them were responsible for non-child dependents. Other research shows student-caregivers are disproportionately from historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups.Ray Ray McElrathbey was a 19-year-old freshman at Clemson in 2006 when he took over custody of his 10-year-old brother because of his mother’s drug problems and his father’s gambling addiction. Initially, they lived solely off McElrathbey’s scholarship and later the NCAA approved a plan where donations were administered by a local bank and distributed to Ray and Fahmarr. His story was the subject of “Safety,” a Disney movie.When McElrathbey was a child and saw “Angels in the Outfield,” it inspired him because he felt there were other children out there like him. These days, he does speaking engagements and shares his message of hope with young people.”Just kind to speak to those kids in a similar situation like I was growing up and have them have something to inspire them is the greatest gift,” he said.Tufts University professor Emma Armstrong-Carter, who has done research on children caregivers, said these young people show amazing strength and don’t want to be pitied.”Isn’t it incredible that these young people are able to overcome so many challenges and support their families in ways that are necessary and meaningful?” Armstrong-Carter said. “There’s a need for more institutional support to help them thrive.”Smith and his family are able to afford renting a house in the state capital, paying for utilities, bills, food and ride-hailing services thanks to waves of financial support. The GoFundMe effort has raised more than $60,000, and he makes some money through name, image and likeness deals. Michigan State has helped through a student assistance fund. Two fundraisers were hosted at a McDonald’s in Lansing and an IHOP in Livonia set up by former Michigan State football players Jason Strayhorn and Sedrick Irvin and promoted on their “This is Sparta MSU” podcast.Road trips are part of the calendar and the Spartans don’t play two home games in a row until the end of the season in November, though two bye weekends will give Smith more time at home. One of his mother’s close friends, Yolanda Wilson, whose son, Nick Marsh, is a standout freshman receiver and former high school teammate, has been a source of support.”I’m going to be there no matter what,” she said. “That’s a promise I made to their mother. And they have everybody here backing them up. So, it’s going to be a hard transition as it is, but we’re going to be that tight-knit community and have their back.”The love is not lost on Smith.”Me and my family are very happy, very appreciative and grateful,” he said. “There’s a lot of love Spartan Nation has shown us these past few months. It’s been a rough time, but to be able to take some of the stress off of my shoulders and show me a lot of love is a blessing and has warmed my heart.”When Smith gave The Associated Press access to his home one recent evening, three siblings were upstairs in their bedrooms while a teenage brother was napping on a sectional couch in a living room without a TV or table. His toddler sister giggled between drinks from a sippy cup.”It just puts a smile on my face to see them happy,” he said while watching video clips from practice on his phone.Smith’s sadness comes and goes, but he knows his mother would want him to carry on.”I can feel her living through me,” he said. “Almost like I hear her voice telling me how proud she is of me.”