New deal reached with states over opioids
Members of the billionaire Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma, have reached a deal with a group of states that had long resisted the company’s bankruptcy plan — a crucial step toward funneling billions of dollars from the family’s fortune to addiction treatment programs nationwide, according to a court filing on Thursday. If Judge Robert Drain, who has presided over Purdue’s bankruptcy proceedings in White Plains, New York, approves the agreement, the Sacklers would pay as much as $6 billion to help communities address damage from the opioid crisis. In return, they would get an end to all civil claims against them over the company’s prescription opioid business.
White House requests $32.5B for pandemic, Ukraine aid
The Biden administration has asked Congress for $32.5 billion in emergency spending to bolster the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic and support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion. The administration requested $10 billion in humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine and $22.5 billion for additional vaccines, oral antivirals and monoclonal antibodies, testing, and support for the global COVID-19 vaccination effort. Officials hope to include both pieces of emergency aid in a spending package that would fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. Congress has until March 11 to hammer out details of a deal on the bills needed to keep federal money flowing.
Navy recovers jet from South China Sea
The Navy has recovered a stealthy F-35 warplane that fell into the South China Sea after it crashed while trying to land on a Navy aircraft carrier, the service announced Thursday. The Navy’s Japan-based 7th Fleet said a remote-operated vehicle attached lines to the plane, which was then lifted 12,400 feet and winched aboard the deck of a civilian vessel called the Picasso that the Navy contracted to assist in the operation. The warplane will be taken to a nearby military installation and studied as part of an investigation into the crash, a statement said.
By wire sources