In Las Vegas, Kamala Harris sees a chance to improve her odds of winning

In Las Vegas, Kamala Harris sees a chance to improve her odds of winning
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (R) greets US Representative Dina Titus (C) upon arrival at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 10, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 11 August 2024
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In Las Vegas, Kamala Harris sees a chance to improve her odds of winning

In Las Vegas, Kamala Harris sees a chance to improve her odds of winning
  • As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly beat Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada
  • Despite Trump's promise to make workers’ tips tax-free, the state's biggest union, the Culinary Workers Union, has announced its endorsement of Harris

LAS VEGAS: Vice President Kamala Harris is working to make Nevada look like less of a political gamble in November’s election.
The Democratic presidential nominee was visiting the state on Saturday with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. It’s the final stop of a battleground blitz in which Democrats are showing new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and Harris replaced him at the top of the ticket.
Magnolia Magat, a 59-year-old restaurant owner in Las Vegas who lives in the neighboring city of Henderson, said she’s now “more hopeful” about the election.
“I am very happy that not only is our candidate a woman, she is Black and she’s also Asian,” said Magat, who is Filipino American. “And it’s not because Harris is a woman that I want to endorse her. It’s because she’s highly capable of running the country.”
As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly beat Republican Donald Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada. Trump, the former president, is trying this time to create more support in a state that relies on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industry by pledging to make workers’ tips tax-free.
But the union representing 60,000 workers in that industry, the Culinary Workers Union, announced Friday night its endorsement of Harris. About 54 percent of the union’s members are Latino, 55 percent women and 60 percent immigrants.
“The path to victory runs through Nevada,” the union said in a statement, “and the Culinary Union will deliver Nevada for President Kamala Harris and Vice President Tim Walz.”
Also, Adelante PAC, the political arm of the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights group, League of United Latin American Citizens, endorsed Harris. That was a first for the 95-year-old organization that has in the past steered away from formally throwing its support behind political candidates.
CEO Juan Proaño attended Saturday’s rally with Harris and Walz and said in an interview that doing so was necessary because “there was just obviously a very overriding concern about the future impact on the Latino community” if Trump returns to the White House.
AP VoteCast found in 2020 that 14 percent of Nevada voters were Hispanic, with Biden winning 54 percent of their votes. His margin with Hispanic voters was slightly better nationwide, a sign that Democrats cannot take this bloc of voters for granted.
Imer Cespedes-Alvarado, a first generation American citizen who spent his childhood in Costa Rica before making the difficult decision at 16 to return alone to the US for better opportunities, was excited to have Walz and Harris speaking on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he is majoring in political science.
“There’s an incredible energy here among the college students and community members who are coming together to support and listen to our next president, Kamala Harris, and soon-to-be vice president, Tim Walz,” said Cespedes-Alvarado, 21.
Harris is hoping to drive a wedge with Republicans by focusing on issues such as access to abortion and repairs to the US immigration system. Her message is that Trump killed a bipartisan deal this year to improve security on the southern border and address immigration issues, with Democrats saying he did so in hopes of improving his own political odds.
Because Harris’ portfolio in the Biden administration included the root causes of migration and due to some of her comments before the 2020 election, Republicans have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration.
At a news conference in Florida this past week, Trump said of Harris, “As a border czar, she’s been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.”
The Republican has proposed mass deportations if he returns to the White House, but AP VoteCast found in 2020 that nearly 7 in 10 Nevada voters said that immigrants living in the United States illegally should be offered the chance to apply for legal status.
Krista Hall, 60, and her husband Thaddeus Hager, 58, attended the Las Vegas rally with Harris and Walz and said that they haven’t been more excited about an election since President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008.
“This is as electric, if not more than,” Hall said, noting that they attended several Obama rallies at the time. Hager said he’s confident that Harris and Walz will “win in a landslide.”
The Democatic ticket over the past week has also visited the crucial midwestern “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Along with Nevada and Arizona, those five states represent 61 electoral votes that could be essential for reaching the 270 threshold required to win November’s election. Harris had also planned to visit North Carolina and Georgia this past week — between them another 32 electoral votes — but those stops were postponed due to Tropical Storm Debby.
In Nevada’s rural Douglas County near the California border, Gail Scott, 71, serves on the central committee of the local Democratic Party and said she didn’t initially agree with calls for Biden to leave the race. Trump won the county in 2016 and 2020, but trimming his margins there could lower his ability to compete in Nevada.
Scott said it’s impossible to miss the energy that Harris has created among younger voters who could help statewide.
“Young people are embracing Kamala Harris and the enthusiasm and the joy that she’s brought to the campaign,” she said.
Brian Shaw, a Republican from northern Nevada, said Harris’ arrival on the top of the ticket could make it harder for Trump to win because Biden was a “pitiful candidate” and there’s little time to expose the vice president’s “incompetence.” He said he attended Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s rally in Reno on July 30 and found him to be “likable, capable, polished as a politician, but not veneered.” He didn’t have much of an opinion of Walz.
 


Tajikistan’s chief mufti injured in attack, interior ministry says

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Tajikistan’s chief mufti injured in attack, interior ministry says

Tajikistan’s chief mufti injured in attack, interior ministry says
The ministry said a person with “hooligan motives” had stabbed Abduqodirzoda following a prayer service at a mosque

DUSHANBE: Tajikistan’s top Muslim cleric Sayeedmukarram Abduqodirzoda was injured in an attack outside a central mosque in the capital Dushanbe on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.
The ministry said a person with “hooligan motives” had stabbed Abduqodirzoda following a prayer service at a mosque.
He suffered minor injuries and was released after a medical examination, the ministry said. Authorities detained the attacker and have opened a criminal case into the incident, it added.
Abduqodirzoda, 61, has served as chairman of the country’s highest Islamic institution, the Islamic Council of Ulema, since 2010, according to his official biography.
Tajikistan is a land-locked country of some 10 million people sandwiched between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. The majority of Tajiks are adherents of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam.

Zelensky says Ukraine’s victory ‘depends’ on United States

Zelensky says Ukraine’s victory ‘depends’ on United States
Updated 11 September 2024
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Zelensky says Ukraine’s victory ‘depends’ on United States

Zelensky says Ukraine’s victory ‘depends’ on United States
  • “As for the plan for victory... it depends mostly on the support of the United States. And other partners,” Zelensky said
  • Zelensky has said he will outline a plan to end the war by November

KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Ukraine’s plan to defeat Russia depended on Washington’s support, speaking as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv.
“As for the plan for victory... it depends mostly on the support of the United States. And other partners,” Zelensky said in a press conference.
His remarks come just under two months before US elections that could be challenging for Ukraine if Donald Trump is back in the White House.
Trump aides have suggested that if he wins, he would leverage aid to force Kyiv into territorial concessions to Russia to end the war.
Zelensky has said he will outline a plan to end the war by November.
He has argued that a surprise incursion by Ukrainian troops into Russia’s Kursk region allows Kyiv to enter potential negotiations from a position of strength.
Ukraine held a peace summit in June in Switzerland with leaders and top officials from more than 90 countries but did not invite Russia.
Zelensky has since said Moscow should be included in the next gathering.
The Kremlin has ruled out talks since the assault in Kursk, and has demanded Ukraine cede swathes of territory for a ceasefire.


Philippines deadliest place for environmental defenders in Asia, rights group says

Philippines deadliest place for environmental defenders in Asia, rights group says
Updated 11 September 2024
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Philippines deadliest place for environmental defenders in Asia, rights group says

Philippines deadliest place for environmental defenders in Asia, rights group says
  • Global Witness recorded 17 killings of environmentalists in Philippines in 2023
  • Colombia was the deadliest country for environmental activists, with 79 killed

MANILA: The Philippines is the deadliest country in Asia for environment defenders, the latest Global Witness report shows, with the country recording the most environmental killings in the region for over a decade.

At least 196 environmentalists and land activists were killed globally in 2023, according to UK advocacy group’s estimates released earlier this week.

The figure brings the total number of people killed for trying to protect their homes, community or the planet to 2,106 since 2012, when Global Witness started its monitoring.

Colombia was the deadliest country for environmentalists and land rights defenders in 2023, the Philippines was fourth.

“Colombia had record-high defender killings in 2023 with 79 deaths: the highest annual total ever recorded by Global Witness Followed by Brazil (25), Mexico (18) and Honduras (18) and the Philippines (17),” the report read.

At the same time, the Philippines was the third — preceded only by Colombia and Brazil — in the total number of such killings since the first Global Witness report, with 298 environmental and land activists killed between 2012 and 2023.

The report also highlighted “cases of enforced disappearances and abductions, pointed tactics used in both the Philippines and Mexico in particular, as well as the wider use of criminalisation as a tactic to silence activists across the world.”

Besides the Philippines, only two other Asian countries are featured in this year’s report: India, where five activists were killed, and Indonesia, where three such killings were recorded.

Jashaf Shamir Lorenzo, environmentalists and head of research at BAN Toxics Philippines, told Arab News that environmentalists were oppressed in a number of ways.

“The most extreme cases include red-tagging, abduction, and even killings ... It seems that environmentalists who are most at risk are those who get in the way of big industries, big politicians. It doesn’t really differ much from what we see happening to journalists, human rights defenders, and activists,” he said.

“We need the government to really take action — environmental concerns have always been a big part of political platforms for decades, but major incidences of abuse point towards a lack of commitment to not only protect the environment, but to protect its stewards.”

He said impunity of the abusers has been aided by government inaction since the times of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who was in office from 2016 to 2022.

“Ever since Duterte, the government has been really lenient with these things,” he said.

“Unless the government really commits to protecting the environment, these abuses will only worsen.”


UK summons Iranian charge d’affaires over transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia

An Iranian Shahab-3 missile rises into the air after being test-fired at an undisclosed location in the Iranian desert. (AFP)
An Iranian Shahab-3 missile rises into the air after being test-fired at an undisclosed location in the Iranian desert. (AFP)
Updated 11 September 2024
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UK summons Iranian charge d’affaires over transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia

An Iranian Shahab-3 missile rises into the air after being test-fired at an undisclosed location in the Iranian desert. (AFP)
  • “UK Government was clear in that any transfer of Ballistic Missiles to Russia would be seen as a dangerous escalation and would face a significant response”: Ministry

LONDON: Britain’s foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires, the country’s most senior diplomat in London, over the transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia.
“Today, in coordination with European partners and upon instruction from the Foreign Secretary, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Iranian Embassy in London was summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The UK Government was clear in that any transfer of Ballistic Missiles to Russia would be seen as a dangerous escalation and would face a significant response.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday during a visit to London that Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran and would likely use them in its war in Ukraine within weeks.
On Tuesday, Britain, the US and European allies all condemned the move.
Britain sanctioned Iranian individuals and entities involved in drone and missile production, as well as Russian cargo ships it said were involved in transporting the missiles from Iran to Russia.


Russia pushes back Ukrainian troops in some areas of Kursk, commander says

Russia pushes back Ukrainian troops in some areas of Kursk, commander says
Updated 11 September 2024
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Russia pushes back Ukrainian troops in some areas of Kursk, commander says

Russia pushes back Ukrainian troops in some areas of Kursk, commander says
  • Major General Apti Alaudinov, who commands Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces fighting in Kursk, said that Russian troops had gone on the offensive and taken back control
  • “A total of about 10 settlements in the Kursk region have been liberated”

MOSCOW: Russian forces have begun a significant counter-offensive against Ukrainian troops who smashed their way into western Russia last month, and have taken some territory back, pro-Moscow war bloggers and a senior Russian commander said.
Ukraine on Aug. 6 launched the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two, bursting through the border into the region of Kursk with thousands of troops supported by swarms of drones and heavy weaponry, including Western-made arms.
Major General Apti Alaudinov, who commands Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces fighting in Kursk, said that Russian troops had gone on the offensive and taken back control of about 10 settlements in Kursk, TASS reported.
“The situation is good for us,” said Alaudinov, who is also deputy head of the Russian defense ministry’s military-political department.
“A total of about 10 settlements in the Kursk region have been liberated,” he said.
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports due to reporting restrictions on both sides of the war. Russia’s defense ministry said it had defeated Ukrainian units at a number of villages in Kursk.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that his forces controlled 100 settlements in Kursk region over an area of more than 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles), a figure disputed by Russian sources.
Yuri Podolyaka, an Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, and two other influential bloggers — Rybar and the Two Majors — said that Russian forces had begun a significant counter-offensive in Kursk.
“In the Kursk region, the Russian Army launched counter-offensive actions on the western flank of the enemy’s wedge, reducing the Ukrainian zone of control near the state border,” the Two Majors blog said.
Podolyaka said that Russian forces had taken several villages on the west of the sliver of Russia that Ukraine carved out, pushing Ukrainian forces to the east of the Malaya Loknya River south of Snagost.
Russian forces also advanced in eastern Ukraine, and were fighting in the center of the town of Ukrainsk in the Donetsk region, according to Russian war bloggers and open source maps of the war.