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Kevin Lamarque/ReutersHunter Biden's legal defense team on Wednesday asked a judge to dismiss the federal tax case against him, arguing that the president's son has been subjected to a politically motivated prosecution.
At a hearing in Los Angeles, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi pressed Biden's attorneys to show evidence to support their claims. He said he would likely rule on the motions to dismiss by April 17.
Biden was not in attendance at the hearing where his legal team—led by Abbe Lowell—argued that GOP lawmakers and former president Donald Trump had an improper influence on the case, leading to the unraveling of a plea deal last summer, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Despite a U.N.-backed report sounding the alarm on imminent famine in northern Gaza, Israeli authorities announced Sunday they will no longer approve the passage of any UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza. "Our ability to adequately continue saving lives is really being obstructed," says UNRWA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai. "What's going to happen to UNRWA if we can no longer truly operate?" The decision came as President Biden signed a $1.2 trillion appropriations bill that strips funding to UNRWA for the next year. The U.S. first suspended aid to UNRWA in late January, when the Israeli government claimed 12 of the agency's 30,000 employees were involved in Hamas's attacks on October 7. The unsubstantiated allegation prompted top donors to cut funding to UNRWA, though many of them have resumed funding as the agency welcomes new donor countries and an unprecedented number of civil society donations. Seeing the U.S., the agency's largest donor, "withhold funding … is a huge blow to us," says Alrifai. "Stripping UNRWA of funding not only shrinks its ability to respond to the looming famine in Gaza, but also puts at risk the schools, the access of kids to proper education, the vaccines, the mother and child care — everything across the region."
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