(NewsNation) — New details have emerged in the case of four University of Idaho students killed in their off campus rental home Nov. 13 in Moscow.

A county coroner’s preliminary report determined that the students — identified as Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 — all died from stab wounds and were likely asleep at the time of their murders.

Detectives are now aware of a sixth person listed on the lease of the home. As of Thursday evening, Moscow police do not believe the person on the lease was there at the time of the deadly stabbings.

Police will not share exactly where the victims inside the rental home that is now a crime scene. But based on pictures from inside, analyzed by NewsNation, it seems that there are two bedrooms on the first floor with a bathroom in the middle. The second floor also appears to have two bedrooms and another bathroom. On the third floor, there are two bedrooms and another bathroom. According to investigators, the murders happened on the second and third floors of the home.

Moscow police say they remain consistent in their belief that the incident was a “targeted attack.” Investigators have not determined if the target was the home or the people living there.

Police issued a clarification on the matter, saying there was an “internal miscommunication” after Latah County, Idaho, prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson told NewsNation that it was not necessarily one victim who was targeted, but more so the home itself.

“My understanding is investigators believe that whoever’s responsible was specifically looking at this particular residence,” Thompson said Tuesday.

Morgan Romero, an anchor for KTVB in Boise, tweeted Wednesday evening that Thompson confirmed that one of the victims in the home was in fact the target of the murders. It’s unclear which student he meant, but police insist conflicting information had been released.

The Moscow Police Department asserted Thursday night they are “the only provider of official information” regarding the case.

The Moscow community continues to mourn the students killed in the stabbings, as the investigation has not seen much apparent progress. No suspects or persons of interest have been publicly identified in the case.

Investigators are still looking for context and clues surrounding the quadruple murder case. Information can be submitted to detectives in the following ways:

Tip Line: 208-883-7180

Email: tipline@ci.moscow.id.us

Digital Media: fbi.gov/moscowidaho

NewsNation has been covering this story from the beginning, and will continue its investigation in a special hour on Sunday. National correspondent Brian Entin will host “Special Report: Idaho Murder Mystery” on Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on NewsNation. Here’s how you can watch.

The U.S., Japan, and South Korea revealed new sanctions to punish North Korea for an unprecedented series of missile tests, as they struggle to pressure Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.

The U.S. unveiled measures against three individuals for their connection to the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, while Japan targeted three groups and one individual. South Korea added eight individuals and seven institutions it said were connected with North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons development program.

The allies are grappling for new ways to ramp up pressure against North Korea, which is already under comprehensive U.S. and United Nations sanctions. The existing sanctions regime includes a cap on fuel imports and limits on foreign income.

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Russia and China, two long-time partners of North Korea, have veto power at the UN Security Council and have shown no intent to punish leader Kim Jong Un with extra sanctions. They played a critical role in passing such measures five years ago after Kim’s last atomic test.

North Korea has fired off a record number of missiles this year with the U.S. and its allies focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In November, North Korea test-fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile with an estimated range long enough to carry a warhead to the American mainland, highlighting the challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden.

Read More: The Risk of Nuclear War is Now a Daily Issue for the Biden Administration

The U.S., South Korea, and Japan have promised a coordinated response if Kim defies United Nations resolutions and detonates an atomic device.

Among the organizations added to Japan’s sanctions list was Lazarus Group, which the government said also goes under aliases including the New Romantic Cyber Army Team. North Korea in recent years has intensified its cybercrime operations, including stealing from cryptocurrency platforms, to generate revenue to prop up its ailing economy.

A report from blockchain research firm Chainalysis said North Korea’s hacker army stole $400 million in crypto assets in 2021. In April of this year, the U.S. Treasury Department tied the North Korean hacking group Lazarus to the theft of over $600 million in crypto from a software bridge used by a popular video game.

The U.S. previously sanctioned a “virtual currency mixer,” Blender.io, that the government said was tied to North Korean hacking and money-laundering activities.

The U.S. could still target North Korean shipping companies, coal exports to China, and Chinese companies employing overseas North Korean laborers, as well as North Korean efforts to steal cryptocurrency, said Anthony Ruggiero, a former North Korea director on the White House National Security Council who is now at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think-tank.

“There’s a lot left to sanction,” Ruggiero said, speaking Thursday at an event on threats to non-proliferation. “We’ve got to reinvigorate the pressure campaign.”

National Security Council Advisor Jake Sullivan told a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum on Wednesday that new sanctions were “coming forward” and that the U.S. would bolster military and intelligence cooperation with Japan and South Korea.

Tighter military cooperation with Tokyo and Seoul would include upgrading “the alliance software that we have in the region,” and “steps with respect to the hardware,” Sullivan said, without providing further details.

U.S. President Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet on Thursday for celebrities, lawmakers, and titans of industry at the White House’s first state dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The dinner is the crowning social event of a trip aimed at showing Biden’s commitment to Washington’s oldest ally even as the two countries wrangle over how to handle Russia’s war in Ukraine, subsidies for U.S. products and other issues.

The guest list included actress Jennifer Garner and her daughter with Ben Affleck, Violet; singer John Legend and model Chrissy Teigen; “Vogue” editor Anna Wintour; and director Baz Luhrmann.

Those celebrities joined members of Biden’s Cabinet, lawmakers, and business leaders including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) CEO Brian Moynihan, KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) investor Henry Kravis and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) president Brad Smith.

On Thursday night, Biden and his wife, Jill, welcomed the Macrons back to the White House for the dinner after diplomatic meetings earlier in the day.

Both presidents wore tuxedos. Jill wore an Oscar de la Renta lace dress and dangly silver earrings. Macron’s wife, Brigitte, was clad in Louis Vuitton.

Less than two weeks after Biden’s granddaughter was married on White House grounds, the event brought a touch of pizzazz to the businesslike presidential residence, whose social calendar was undermined by precautions taken in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guests strutted along the red carpet in front of reporters to a reception in the White House before taking a trolley bus to a pavilion on the South Lawn for the formal dinner around 10 p.m.

There they were treated to toasts, music from Jon Batiste, Chardonnay from the Napa Valley and cheeses from Oregon, California and Wisconsin. Some 200 Maine lobsters were flown in for the candle-lit occasion.

“It’s going to be fire,” Batiste told reporters of his performance as he arrived.

The lavish Washington dinner is one of few events that bring together people including the president’s son Hunter and Kevin McCarthy, who leads a Republican congressional delegation that has vowed to investigate his business dealings.

Macron arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his second state visit to the United States since the French leader took office in 2017.

Biden, 80, and Macron, 44, have had many meetings at international gatherings but this was the longest time they have spent together.

“Tonight we celebrate the enduring alliance between France and the United States,” Biden said as guests clinked their champagne flutes. “Vive la France and God bless America.”

Macron added that the two countries come from “the same values” of “we, the people.”

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Some communities in Chinese cities where COVID-19 is still spreading are easing off on testing requirements and quarantine rules in a marked shift in virus policies after widespread protests across the country.

China is set to announce an easing of its COVID quarantine rules in coming days and a reduction in mass testing, sources told Reuters, even as cases nationwide remain near record highs.

Some cities lifted some district lockdowns this week, as Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who oversees COVID efforts, said the ability of the virus to cause disease was weakening.

The new message aligns with what health authorities around the world have said for more than a year, but contrasts sharply with China’s consistent warnings throughout the pandemic over how deadly the disease was.

The policy shift comes after anger over the world’s toughest curbs fuelled protests unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

China’s COVID policies have taken a significant toll on its economy, choking everything from domestic consumption, to factory output, to global supply chains, and causing severe stress for hundreds of millions of people.

While government authorities in cities that have lifted lockdowns did not mention the protests in their announcements, national health officials have said China will address the “urgent concerns” expressed by the public.

On the ground, however, some communities in Beijing and elsewhere have already allowed close contacts of people carrying the virus to quarantine at home, while some shopping malls in the capital have reopened from Thursday.

One residential community in east Beijing on Friday sent a notice to say those who have “no social activities” no longer need to get tested regularly “to reduce the risk of crowding.

“Long-term homebound elderly, home-based workers and students, infants and young children who have no social activities in the city can be excluded from community nucleic acid screening if they do not need to go out,” a notice read.

Several testing booths in the area have stopped operating and the numbers of those getting tested have dropped 20-30%, a testing staff member said. Still, the park nearby remained closed, while restaurants and cafes only sold takeaway.

Some areas in Guangzhou, where protesters only days ago clashed with police, resumed dine-in services, and residents are no longer asked to present negative PCR tests to enter, state media reported.

In nearby Shenzhen, some people will be allowed to quarantine at home. About a thousand kilometres to the west, in Chonging, a wide range of businesses from barber shops to gyms were allowed to resume this week.

All those cities have been reporting hundreds or even thousands of cases a day – high numbers by China’s standards.

At the same time, many communities in areas designated as high risk by various cities remain under lockdown and many people are still required to undergo daily tests.

Some places in Shanghai this week in fact tightened testing requirements to every 48 hours from 72.

The hope for many residents was that the expected announcement from national health authorities in coming days would help standardise implementation across the country all the way down to neighbourhood levels.

The easing measures due to be unveiled include a reduction in the use of mass testing and regular nucleic acid tests as well as moves to allow positive cases and close contacts to isolate at home under certain conditions, the sources familiar with the matter said.

Earlier this year, entire communities were locked down, sometimes for weeks, after even just one positive case, with people stuck indoors losing income, having poor access to basic necessities, and struggling to cope mentally with the isolation.

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Less than half of femicides in Mexico result in convictions, research group Impunidad Cero said on Thursday, pointing to a lack of resources directed at investigating the murder of women and girls.

The group said in a report that 43% of femicide cases over the past six years lead to convictions, while noting that only a minority of cases were investigated as femicides – the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender, a crime which carries harsher sentences.

Of more than 5,600 killings of women and girls recorded by authorities in the first nine months of this year, half were deemed manslaughter and 38% murder. The report found that conviction rates for murder, for both women and men, is just 7%.

Mexico has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, a region that accounts for the highest rates worldwide, according to the group and U.N. data.

Monserrat Lopez, a data analyst at Impunidad Cero, told reporters a trend of militarization was sidelining civilian institutions responsible for investigating murder and femicide.

Juan Antonio Le Clercq, who conducts research into the problem of impunity at Puebla’s University of the Americas (UDLAP), said the budgets for state judicial offices averaged just 14.29 pesos ($0.75) per capita a year – aggravating a lack of public officials available to handle reports of crimes.

“I don’t know who is supposed to investigate these crimes,” he told a news conference to present the report.

Last week, parents of murdered women and girls marched in Mexico City to demand justice, with many saying their cases were not being adequately investigated or were dragging on for years.

Mexican states last year averaged about 10 prosecutors per 100,000 people, with on average just 13 police investigators and seven experts, Impunidad Cero said in its report.

With just over four judges per 100,000 people, Mexico would need 98 years at the current rate of increase to match Europe’s 23 judges per 100,000 people, Le Clercq said.

The State of Mexico, despite having less capacity for investigation, was imprisoning people at twice the average national rate – with many detainees unable to afford a lawyer, he added.

Impunidad Cero recommended institutions collaborate to develop better protocols and capacities to investigate gender violence, and develop social reintegration measures to prevent offenders from repeating crimes.

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(NewsNation) — Hundreds of community members gathered Wednesday night for a vigil to honor the University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in a rental home Nov. 13.

A county coroner’s preliminary report determined that the students — identified as Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 — all died from stab wounds and were likely asleep at the time of their murders.

At the vigil, Goncalves’ father disclosed that his daughter and Mogen were killed together in the same bed. He said Goncalves and Mogen were lifelong best friends who were together until the end.

“These girls were absolutely beautiful. They had been friends since sixth grade,” Steve Goncalves said. “We both put them in a charter academy; they felt like they were being punished. In sixth grade, they just found each other. And every day they did homework together, they came to our house together. They shared everything. They made a proposal to go to a regular high school so then they went to high school together. Then they started looking at colleges. They came here together. They eventually got into the same apartment together. In the end, they died together in the same room, in the same bed. It’s a shame, and it hurts. But the beauty of the two always being together is something that comforts us.”

Ethan Chapin’s mother also spoke at the vigil, where emotions ran high.

“The circumstances that bring us here tonight, they’re terrible. The hardest part: We cannot change the outcome,” Stacy Chapin said.

Police will not share which victims were found where inside the rental home that is now a crime scene. But based on pictures from inside, analyzed by NewsNation, it seems that there are two bedrooms on the first floor with a bathroom in the middle. The second floor also appears to have two bedrooms and another bathroom. On the third floor, there are two bedrooms and another bathroom. According to investigators, the murders happened on the second and third floors of the home.

Four University of Idaho students were found dead Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. Police are investigating the deaths as a crime. (Angela Palermo/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, police are acknowledging what they call an “internal miscommunication” after Latah County, Idaho, prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson told NewsNation that it was not necessarily one victim who was targeted, but more so the home itself.

“My understanding is investigators believe that whoever’s responsible was specifically looking at this particular residence,” Thompson said Tuesday.

Morgan Romero, an anchor for KTVB in Boise, tweeted Wednesday evening that Thompson confirmed that one of the victims in the home was in fact the target of the murders. It’s unclear which student he meant, but police insist conflicting information had been released.

“The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office stated the suspect(s) specifically looked at this residence, and that one or more of the occupants were undoubtedly targeted,” Moscow Police said. “We have spoken with the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office and identified this was a miscommunication. Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted but (they) continue to investigate.”

The Moscow community continues to mourn the students killed in the stabbings, as the investigation has not seen much apparent progress. Any suspects or persons of interest have not been publicly identified in the case.

NewsNation has been covering this story from the beginning, and will continue its investigation in a special hour on Sunday. National correspondent Brian Entin will host “Special Report: Idaho Murder Mystery” on Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on NewsNation. Here’s how you can watch.

ד״ר ריטשאַרד ראַבינאָװיץ איז באַקאַנט װי אַן אַמעריקאַנער היסטאָריקער, װאָס דערצײלט זײַנע געשיכטעס דורך חפֿצים און ביאָגראַפֿישע פּרטים. דער פֿאָקוס פֿון זײַן אינטערעס איז דאָס טאָג־טעגלעכע לעבן פֿונעם פּראָסטן אַמעריקאַנער בשׂר־ודם. ער האָט מיטגעאַרבעט בײַם מאַכן אױסשטעלונען װעגן עטנישע עדות אין פֿאַרשײדענע טײלן פֿון אַמעריקע, צװישן זײ — דעם טענעמענט־מוזײ אין ניו־יאָרק. איצט, שױן קרובֿ צו אַכציק יאָר אַלט, האָט ער זיך געוואָנדן צו זײַן אײגענער משפּחה־געשיכטע. דאָס בוך „חפֿצים פֿון ליבע און באַדױער‟ דערצײלט די דאָזיקע געשיכטע דורך עלף פּשוטע חפֿצים, װאָס דינען װי אַ מין װעגװײַזער פֿונעם אַמאָליקן ייִדישן לעבן.

ראַבינאָװיץ איז אַ מײַסטער דערצײלער. ער װעבט אַרײַן די פֿעדעמער פֿון פּריװאַטע משפּחה-זכרונות אינעם ברײטערן לײַװנט פֿון דער אַמעריקאַנער ייִדישער געשיכטע. ער האָט ספּעציעל געפֿאָרשט דעם „ייִחוס‟ פֿון יעדן חפֿץ, פֿון אַ פֿלעשל פּאַרפֿום, װאָס זײַן טאַטע האָט געגעבן פֿאַר אַ מתּנה זײַן מאַמען װען ער האָט אוכאַזשעװעט נאָך איר, ביזן דײַטשישן האַרמאַטקױל, װאָס זײַן זײדע האָט געפֿונען אין אַ פֿעלד לעבן זײַן פּױלישן שטעטל נאָך דער ערשטער װעלט־מלחמה. ראַבינאָװיץ איז אױפֿגעװאַקסן נאָך דער צװײטער װעלט־מלחמה אינעם ברוקלינער געגנט איסט־ניו־יאָרק. זײַן טאַטע איז געבױרן געװאָרן אין ניו־יאָרק אין 1914 בײַ עלטערן, װאָס זײַנען געקומען פֿון אוקראַיִנע נאָך 1905, בעת זײַן מאַמע איז געבױרן געװאָרן אינעם פּױלישן שטעטל װיסאָקע (װיסאָקע־מאַזאָװעצקיע אױף פּױליש) אין 1916 און געקומען קײן אַמעריקע מיט איר מאַמען אין 1928. די עלטערן האָבן חתונה געהאַט אין 1935. זײער צװײט קינד, ריטשאַרד, איז געבױרן געװאָרן אין 1945.

ראַבינאָװיצעס משפּחה־געשיכטע איז טיפּיש פֿאַר צענדליקער טױזנטער ייִדישע אימיגראַנטן פֿון מזרח־אײראָפּע. דער עלטערער דור, זײַן באָבע־זײדעס, האָבן שװער געהאָרעװעט פֿאַר אַ שטיקל ברױט. ברוך, דער זײדע פֿונעם טאַטנס צד, האָט פֿאַרבראַכט זײַנע יונגע יאָרן צװישן דער אָדעסער אונטערװעלט, געדינט אין דער רוסישער אַרמײ בעת דער מלחמה מיט יאַפּאַן און פֿון דאַנען איז אַנטלאָפֿן קײן אַמעריקע. ער געװען צו גראָב פֿאַר דער מער אײדעלער פּױלישער משפּחה פֿון זײַן זונס כּלה, שׂרה שװאַרץ. מען האָט אים אַפֿילו ניט אײַנגעלאַדן אױף זײַן זונס חתונה. ריטשאַרדס טאַטע האָט ניט באַקומען קײן שול־דיפּלאָם. ערשט בעת דער צװײטער װעלט־מלחמה האָט ער באַװיזן אױסצולערנען די מלאָכה פֿון עלעקטרישן טעכניקער און באַקומען אַן אַרבעט אין מיליטערישער שיפֿבױערײַ. דאָס רובֿ קרובֿים האָבן געהאַט טראַדיציאָנעלע ייִדישע פּרנסות׃ שנײַדערײַ, פּעדלערײַ, מעקלערײַ. ריטשאַרד אַליין האָט אָבער געהאַט אַ גרעסערן דערפֿאָלג. ער האָט שטודירט אין האַרװאַרד־אוניװערסיטעט און געמאַכט אַ דאָקטאָראַט אױף געשיכטע.

די ייִדישע שטוב איז געװען דאָס מלכות פֿון פֿרױען. זײַן פּױלישע באָבע שײנדל און די מאַמע שׂרה זײַנען געװען די „באַלעבוסטעס‟. ראַבינאָװיץ שרײַבט דאָס װאָרט אױף ענגליש אינעם פּױליש-ייִדישן אַרױסרײד, װי ער האָט עס געהערט אין דער הײם. װי עס טרעפֿט אָפֿט אין אַזעלכע משפּחה־געשיכטעס, האָבן די מענער געהאַט אַ קנאַפּן מזל מיט געפֿינען זײער אָרט אין דעם נײַעם לאַנד. זײ האָבן געפֿעלט נײטיקע קענטענישן און געניטשאַפֿט, כּדי צו געפֿינען אַ גוטע אַרבעט מחוץ די גרענעצן פֿונעם ייִדישן „געטאָ‟ פֿונעם איסט־סײַד אָדער ברוקלין. די עקאָנאָמישע אומזיכערקײט האָט בײַ זיי גורם געװען אַ שיפֿלות־קאָמלעקס.

אָבער סך־הכּל מאָלט דאָס בוך אַ טיפּישע אַמעריקאַנער דערפֿאָלג־געשיכטע. די עלטערן האָבן ניט געהאַט קײן חשק צו רעדן װעגן דער אַלטער הײם, בפֿרט נאָכן חורבן. פֿאַר זײ האָט די מלחמה געעפֿנט נײַע עקאָנאָמישע מעגלעכקײטן אין דער מיליטער־אינדוסטריע. נאָך דעם איז זײער װױלשטאַנד געגאַנגען באַרג־אַרױף. זײ האָבן געקױפֿט אַ הױז און אַן אױטאָ, און אױף פּענסיע זײַנען זײ אַװעק קײן פֿלאָרידע װוּ זײ בײדע האָבן געלעבט ביז קנאַפּע הונדערט יאָר.

אַ היפּשע צאָל ייִדן פֿונעם צװײטן און דריטן דור אין אַמעריקע נעמען זיך אױפֿן עלטער פֿאַר פֿאַרפֿאַסן משפּחה־געשיכטעס. צװישן די ביכער פֿונעם דאָזיקן זשאַנער, װאָס זײַנען אַרױס אין די לעצטע יאָרן, איז „חפֿצים פֿון ליבע און באַדױער‟ אײנע פֿון די בעסטע, סײַ פֿונעם ליטעראַרישן און סײַ פֿונעם פֿאָרשערישן שטאַנדפּונקט. ראַבינאָװיץ ברענגט קונציק צונױף זײַנע גרונדיקע קענטענישן אין דער אַמעריקאַנער געשיכטע מיט זײַן פּערזענלעכער דערפֿאַרונג פֿון אױפֿװאַקסן אין דער מיטלשטאַנדיקער ייִדישער געגנט אין ברוקלין. ער קען נעמען אַ פּשוטע טשאַטשקע, װי למשל אַ פֿלעשל־עפֿענער, און אויף דעם סמך אויסטראַכטן אַ גאַנצע מעשׂה וועגן דער ראָלע וואָס פֿאַרשײדענע קיך־כּלים האָבן געהאַט אין זײַן משפּחה־לעבן.

צום סוף ברענגט דער מחבר אַ ניצלעכע ביבליאָגראַפֿישע רשימה פֿאַר די לײענער, װאָס װילן זיך אַרײַנטיפֿן אין דעם ענין פֿון זײערע אײגענע משפּחה־פֿאָרשונגען. דאָ געפֿינט מען אַ סך װיכטיקע היסטאָרישע שטודיעס און מקורים. עס איז דאָ אָבער אײן בלױז׃ די ייִדישע ליטעראַטור. ראַבנאָװיץ דערמאָנט אַװדאי, אַז זײַנע פּױלישע באָבע־זײדע האָבן גערעדט ייִדיש. די באָבע האָט געלײענט די קאָמוניסטישע „מאָרגן־פֿרײַהײט‟, בעת דער זײדע האָט ליב געהאַט דעם ליבעראַלן „טאָג‟ (קײנער אין זײַן משפּחה האָט ניט געלײענט דעם ‚פֿאָרװערטס‟). די צװײטע באָבע זײַנע, װאָס איז געקומען קײן אַמעריקע פֿריִער, האָט באַשטאַנען, מען זאָל בײַ איר איר שטוב רעדן רק ענגליש. דאָ און דאָרט װאַרפֿט ראַבינאָװיץ אַרײַן ייִדישע װערטער. פֿאַר זײַן פֿאָרשונג האָט ער גענוצט דעם יזכּור-בוך פֿון װיסאָקע מיט דער הילף פֿון ייִדיש־קענער.

אָבער ייִדיש פֿעלט אין ראַבינאָװיצעס בוך װי אַ קולטורעלער באַשטאַנדטײל פֿונעם אַמעריקאַנער ייִדישן לעבן. די װערק פֿון אַמעריקאַנער ייִדישע שרײַבער װי יוסף אָפּאַטאָשו, לעאָן קאָברין, שלום אַש, כאַװער־פּאַװער און אַנדערע װאָלטן געגעבן אַ רײַכן שטאָף פֿאַרן אילוסטרירן זײַן משפּחה־געשיכטע. אין די פֿילצאָליקע ראָמאַנען און דערצײלונגען פֿון אַמעריקאַנער ייִדישער שרײַבער געפֿינט מען פּרטימדיקע שילדערונגען פֿון פֿאַרשײדענע ניו־יאָרקער ייִדישע געגנטן, גאַסן, הײַזער, דירות, געשעפֿטן, און דער עיקר, מענטשלעכע טיפּן. אין די לעצטע יאָרן האַלט דער אינטערעס צו דער אַמעריקאַנער ייִדישער ליטעראַטור אין אײן װאַקסן. עס זײַנען אַרױס אַ צאָל גוטע ענגלישע איבערזעצונגען, אָבער צום באַדױערן פֿאַרבלײַבט אָט די רײַכע ירושה עד־היום מחוץ דעם קולטורעלן האָריזאָנט פֿון דער הײַנטיקער אַמעריקאַנער ייִדישער קולטור.

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Joe Biden on Thursday used the first state visit of his presidency to demonstrate unity with France’s Emmanuel Macron on Ukraine, show willingness to speak to Russia’s Vladimir Putin and assuage European anger over U.S. subsidies.

The U.S. president and first lady Jill Biden held a sumptuous, star-studded White House state dinner, featuring music from Jon Batiste and Chardonnay from the Napa Valley, in honor of President Macron and his wife, Brigitte.

But Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, remained the most pressing issue for the leaders, who vowed to continue robust support and to back Kyiv during the tough winter months.

Biden has so far resisted talking to Putin since the invasion was launched in February, while Macron has kept lines of communication open. Russia calls the war a “special operation.”

“Let me choose my words very carefully,” Biden told a news conference with Macron. “I’m prepared to speak with Mr. Putin if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war. He hasn’t done that yet.”

Macron, for his part, said he would continue to talk to Putin to “try to prevent escalation and to get some very concrete results” such as the safety of nuclear plants.

The two leaders also sought ways to ease some economic tensions in Oval Office talks.

Biden pledged to Macron to make changes to U.S. legislation passed by the U.S. Congress this year that European nations fear will harm their economies.

Bills aimed at boosting U.S. renewable energy and the semiconductor industry have “glitches” that can be addressed, Biden said.

Macron raised French and European concerns about Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a new $430 billion bill that offers massive subsidies for U.S.-made products and is aimed at addressing the climate crisis and promoting renewable energy.

At a meeting on Wednesday with U.S. lawmakers, Macron said the act was “super aggressive” toward European companies, one participant told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“France did not come here to ask for some kind of exception for its economy. We came to share how the consequences of this regulation impact us,” he said on Thursday.

European leaders say the legislative package signed by Biden in August is unfair to non-American companies and would be a serious blow to their economies as Europe deals with the fallout from Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.

“There are tweaks that we can make that can fundamentally make it easier for European countries to participate and or be on their own,” said Biden, adding he and Macron had a long discussion about the topic.

Macron said it was important for the United States and its European allies to “re-synchronize” their approaches.

The leaders made “major progress” on how to alleviate the impact, and Biden could use executive orders to give European allies the same level of exemptions on local content as countries with free-trade deals, a French finance ministry source said.

On Ukraine, the two leaders said in a joint statement they were committed to holding Russia to account “for widely documented atrocities and war crimes, committed both by its regular armed forces and by its proxies.” Russia denies committing war crimes.

They also vowed to coordinate on their concerns regarding “China’s challenge to the rules-based international order, including respect for human rights and to work together with China on important global issues like climate change.”

Macron arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his second state visit to the United States since the French leader took office in 2017.

Biden, 80, and Macron, 44, have had many meetings at international gatherings but this was the longest time they have spent together.

A glittering state dinner was planned on Thursday evening, with 200 Maine lobsters flown in for the occasion.

Guests attending the formal event in a pavilion on the White House South Lawn included French fashion designer Christian Louboutin, whose shoes featured on TV show “Sex and the City,” U.S. actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, from the political satire comedy “Veep” and “Seinfeld,” and singer and “The Voice” coach John Legend.

“Tonight we celebrate the enduring alliance between France and the United States,” Biden said as guests clinked their champagne flutes. “Vive la France and God bless America.”

Macron added that the two countries come from “the same values” of “we, the people.”

The two leaders and their wives, who dined together informally at a restaurant on Wednesday, earlier took part in a South Lawn arrival ceremony that featured a military honor guard, a red-jacketed colonial band with the Fife and Drum Corps and national anthems.

Among the gifts Macron brought was a vinyl and CD version of the original soundtrack of Claude Lelouch’s 1966 film “Un Homme et une Femme,” the film the Bidens went to see on their first date, according to the Elysee Palace.

The Bidens presented Macron with a custom mirror made of fallen wood from the White House grounds and a custom vinyl record collection of great American musicians.

On Friday, Macron is expected to visit New Orleans, which was once controlled by the French and still maintains French cultural links, where he will meet the Louisiana governor and a memorandum of understanding on climate change will be signed.

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U.S. President Joe Biden is pushing for South Carolina to host the first Democratic presidential primary, aiming to usher more diversity into the party’s campaigns to lead the country, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Starting in 2024, Biden would like to see South Carolina, where more than half of registered Democrats are Black, to be the first state to hold presidential primary contests, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada one week later, then Georgia, and then Michigan, those people said on Thursday.

The plans, which are likely to be adopted by party leaders at a meeting in Washington that starts Friday, signal a possible end to Iowa’s “first in the nation” caucus that has drawn close media attention for nearly half a century, and show the Democratic Party reacting to the country’s changing demographics.

Biden’s recommendation is highly likely to be honored by party officials who traditionally show deference to the president as the party’s highest elected official, according to Democrats familiar with the plans.

But both Iowa and New Hampshire immediately signaled that they may not abide by Democrats’ wishes by continuing to schedule earlier nominating contests than South Carolina’s.

“For decades, Black voters in particular have been the backbone of the Democratic Party but have been pushed to the back of the early primary process,” Biden wrote in a letter to Democratic officials, which he released online. “It is time to stop taking these voters for granted.”

Democratic officials, who each want their home state to move up the calendar, have been vying for months to be one of the top group of states that start the presidential-picking process before “Super Tuesday,” which often seals the Democratic nominee. The changes could put candidates in the awkward position of deciding whether to alienate voters in those states or remain loyal to the Democratic Party.

The current line-up prior to Super Tuesday is Iowa, then New Hampshire, then Nevada, and finally, South Carolina.

A Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules group is expected to decide at a meeting on Friday and Saturday in Washington. The DNC and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Because it comes first in the process, Iowa, the country’s 31st largest state by both population and gross domestic product, has held an outsized role for both parties in identifying viable candidates to become president.

Little-known Georgia Democrat Jimmy Carter campaigned heavily in the state in 1976, and used his win there to gain media coverage and voter backing that ultimately lifted him to the presidency. Members of both parties have attempted to duplicate his strategy in the years since, with mixed results.

Presidential hopefuls blanketed Iowa’s airwaves with ads and hopscotched the state to talk to voters at state fairs, town halls and school gymnasiums. They took crash courses in agricultural issues that dominate Iowa’s economy.

Months of activity culminated in the Iowa caucus, where locals gathered to make the case for their favored candidate to other Iowa voters, often wooing their support through multiple rounds of voting until a winner was declared.

After Iowa, both Democrats and Republicans held state primaries that narrow down presidential candidates even further. Republicans have not announced plans to strip Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status.

The U.S. voting population has morphed from about 85% white in 1996 to 69% in 2020, Pew Research shows, with the newest generation able to vote, “Gen Z”, just 55% white. Iowa, with an approximately 90% white population, is no longer an accurate predictor of which candidate will do well on the national stage, Democrats say.

Their push to change the primary calendar picked up momentum after 2020 when the Democrats’ Iowa caucuses were plagued by technical and communication issues that delayed the announcement of a winner.

The rules governing the party primaries could be particularly important in 2024. Some White House officials think Biden could face a primary challenge within his own party, and new rules could subtly shift the odds.

Biden has no love lost for Iowa after disappointing results there in 2008 and 2020. His 2020 campaign struggled to raise money and was only secure after the fourth nominating contest that year, in South Carolina, where a heavily Black electorate lifted him to victory.

Twenty states and territories applied for a 2024 early primary spot and 17 were invited make their pitch to DNC officials over the summer.

Officials in Michigan and Minnesota, which hold primaries instead of caucuses, had both fought to take Iowa’s place. Democrats in both states took control of the governors’ mansions and the state legislatures during the midterm elections, giving them the power to shift the schedule if needed.

Some Democrats have argued that Michigan is too big to be an early state, because it will cost candidates dearly to campaign there and allow some to bypass earlier, smaller states and only concentrate on Michigan. But supporters say the key swing state offers candidates a true test of viability.

New Hampshire has traditionally held the first primary, right after Iowa’s caucuses. Biden’s recommendation would force New Hampshire to share the limelight with Nevada.

New Hampshire state law requires its secretary of state to set the primary date seven days before any other, providing state officials a firewall against efforts to boot them as the first primary state.

“It’s tremendously disappointing that the President failed to understand the unique role that New Hampshire plays in our candidate selection process as the first primary state,” said U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire.

“As frustrating as this decision is, it holds no bearing over when we choose our primary date.”

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