
Macron to fête Biden with official state visit
CNN
President Joe Biden will be fêted by a close ally Saturday as French President Emmanuel Macron hosts his US counterpart for an official state visit in Paris.
President Joe Biden will be fêted by a close ally Saturday as French President Emmanuel Macron hosts his US counterpart for an official state visit in Paris. The trappings of the visit come as the US has strengthened its alliance with its oldest ally amid Russia’s war in Ukraine – but some signs of fissures have emerged over the conflict in the Middle East. Macron will welcome the president and first lady Jill Biden with a formal welcome ceremony beginning at Paris landmark L’Arc de Triomphe. There will be a parade procession to the Elysée Palace, followed by a working lunch. The leaders will deliver statements to the press but are not expected to hold a formal news conference. In the evening, the Macrons welcome the Bidens to the famed Musée D’Orsay for a state dinner. Macron is returning the favor to Biden, who hosted the French president for a state visit at the White House in December 2022, the administration’s first. There will be much for the leaders to discuss on Saturday.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









