Pro-Palestine DNC delegates welcome Biden’s exit but side-eye Harris

Pro-Palestine DNC delegates welcome Biden’s exit but side-eye Harris
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Members of the Hawaii delegation hold signs with the names of people killed in Gaza during the roll call of states on Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestine DNC delegates welcome Biden’s exit but side-eye Harris
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A member of the Hawaii delegation holds a sign with the names of a person killed in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, during the roll call of states on Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestine DNC delegates welcome Biden’s exit but side-eye Harris
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A person holds a flag in support of Palestinians in Gaza as demonstrators rally on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 21 August 2024
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Pro-Palestine DNC delegates welcome Biden’s exit but side-eye Harris

Pro-Palestine DNC delegates welcome Biden’s exit but side-eye Harris

CHICAGO: Though there are only a handful of them among thousands of delegates, the “Uncommitted Movement” delegates at the Democratic National Convention are among the most vocal.
The delegates plan to voice their discontent with the war in Gaza at the party’s convention this week in Chicago, during which Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic Party’s nomination in the close race for the White House.
The 30 “Uncommitted Movement” delegates hail from eight different US states and claim to represent some 700,000 voters.
Though they welcomed the news of President Joe Biden dropping out of the race on July 21, they have met Harris’s subsequent ascension with caution and skepticism.
“The party needed change,” Minnesota delegate Asma Mohammed told AFP. “I don’t feel sad about someone who has unapologetically supported a genocidal regime in Israel.”
Mohammed came to Chicago hoping to see a renewed perspective within her party, but she said she is disappointed that the convention has no pro-Palestinian voices on the speaker list.
“I know she’s (Harris) more empathetic than Joe Biden, I’ve seen that,” Mohammed said. “But those words are not enough. That needs to be followed by policy.”
The Uncommitted Movement advocated for adding Tanya Hajj-Hassan to the speaker list, wanting the thousands of attendees to hear from a doctor who has treated victims of the conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas in Gaza.
However, all that has been permitted at the event so far is a panel at the nearby McCormick Center, outside the main venue. During the panel, the pediatrician described the horrors of war, bringing the audience to tears.
Among the speakers slated for the DNC are some relatives of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 when it sparked the conflict by attacking Israel, which also left 1,199 dead, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
“Why does it have to be one or the other?” asked Mohammed, who emphasized that more than 40,000 people have died in Gaza from Israel’s retaliation, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
For her, there is room to listen to both sides.
Jacob Schonberger, a 17-year-old delegate representing the state of Connecticut, is not part of the “Uncommitted Movement” but shares the sentiment. He arrived at the convention wearing buttons with slogans in support of Israel.
“I think it should be leadership’s decision... I have my personal beliefs, but I think that it’s important to have both sides,” he said.
In addition to the “Uncommitted Movement,” protests fomented outside the United Center, the venue for the convention, where hundreds of people chanted “Free Palestine!“
Inside the arena, some delegates covered their mouths as Biden gave his speech Monday night, a gesture made in protest of his response to the war in Gaza.
“We wanted to send the message that we don’t agree with what Biden has been doing,” said Sabrene Odeh, a delegate from Washington state.
While the DNC is underway, Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is on a tour of the Middle East in a new attempt to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas.
Biden acknowledged the discontent with the death toll in Gaza during his speech Monday night.
That did not excite Yaz Kader, another Washington delegate.
“The fact is, he has been a president that has supported a genocide that Israel is committing,” he said.


‘Will do everything in my power to end war in Gaza’: Harris appeals to Arab Americans, Christians

‘Will do everything in my power to end war in Gaza’: Harris appeals to Arab Americans, Christians
Updated 10 sec ago
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‘Will do everything in my power to end war in Gaza’: Harris appeals to Arab Americans, Christians

‘Will do everything in my power to end war in Gaza’: Harris appeals to Arab Americans, Christians
  • Harris addresses Michigan’s 200,000 Arab Americans, starting speech with a nod to civilian victims of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon
  • Trump visited Dearborn, Michigan, the heart of the Arab American community, on Friday and vowed to end the conflict in the Middle East 

DETROIT/KINSTON, North Carolina: Democrat Kamala Harris made her closing pitch for the US presidency at a historically Black church and to Arab Americans in battleground Michigan on Sunday, while her Republican rival Donald Trump embraced violent rhetoric at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Opinion polls show the pair locked in a tight race, with Vice President Harris, 60, bolstered by strong support among female voters while former President Trump, 78, gains ground with Hispanic voters, especially men.

Voters overall view both candidates unfavorably, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, but that has not dissuaded them from casting ballots.

More than 78 million Americans have already done so ahead of Tuesday’s Election Day, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, approaching half the total 160 million votes cast in 2020, in which US voter turnout was the highest in more than a century.

Control of Congress is also up for grabs on Tuesday, with Republicans favored to capture a majority in the Senate while Democrats are seen as having an even chance of flipping Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Presidents whose parties fail to control both chambers have struggled to pass major legislation.

“In just two days we have the power to decide the fate of our nation for generations to come,” Harris told parishioners at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit. “We must act. It’s not enough to only pray; not enough to just talk.”

Later in a rally in East Lansing, Michigan, she addressed the state’s 200,000 Arab Americans, starting her speech with a nod to civilian victims of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

“This year has been difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon, it is devastating. And as president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza,” Harris said to applause.

Many Arab and Muslim Americans as well as anti-war activist groups have condemned US support for Israel amid the tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza and Lebanon, and the displacement of millions. Israel says it is targeting militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Trump visited Dearborn, Michigan, the heart of the Arab American community, on Friday and vowed to end the conflict in the Middle East without saying how.

Instead of mentioning Trump by name, Harris chose to highlight her opponent’s record during her last Sunday on the campaign trail.

TRUMP GOES OFF SCRIPT

Trump, at his first of three rallies on Sunday, frequently abandoned his teleprompter with off-the-cuff remarks in which he denounced opinion polls showing movement for Harris. He called Democrats a “demonic party,” ridiculed Democratic President Joe Biden and talked about the high price of apples.

Trump, who survived an assassination attempt in July when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday complained to supporters about gaps in the bulletproof glass surrounding him as he spoke and mused that an assassin would have to shoot through the news media to get him.

“To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news and I don’t mind that so much,” said Trump, who has long criticized the media and sought to rile public sentiment against them.

Last week he suggested prominent Republican critic, former congresswoman Liz Cheney, should face gunfire in combat over her hawkish foreign policy, leading an Arizona prosecutor to open an investigation.

Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement saying Trump’s comment was not directed toward the media but rather, “It was about threats against him that were spurred on by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats.”

Trump later spoke in Kinston, North Carolina, and in Macon, Georgia, where he seized on last week’s jobs report that showed the US economy only produced 12,000 jobs last month.

He told a large crowd gathered in an amphitheater that the report showed that the United States was a “nation in decline” and he warned darkly without evidence of a potentially looming repeat of the 1929 Great Depression with “people jumping off buildings.”

Senior Harris campaign officials have said her closing argument is designed to reach a narrow slice of undecided voters. That stood in contrast to Trump, who varied little from his standard speech aimed at inspiring his loyal supporters.

“Kamala’s campaign is run on hate and demonization,” Trump said.

Near the end of his Pennsylvania speech, Trump — whose false claims that his 2020 loss was the result of fraud inspired his supporters’ Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol — mused that he would have preferred not to have handed over power.

“We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so, we did so well,” Trump said.

Trump said during his remarks that election results should be announced on Election Night, despite warnings by officials in multiple states that it could take days to ascertain the final outcome.

Democrats say they have plans in place should Trump try to prematurely claim victory this time.


EU’s Borrell visits South Korea amid alarm over North Korean troops in Russia

EU’s Borrell visits South Korea amid alarm over North Korean troops in Russia
Updated 16 min 10 sec ago
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EU’s Borrell visits South Korea amid alarm over North Korean troops in Russia

EU’s Borrell visits South Korea amid alarm over North Korean troops in Russia
  • Borrell arrived in South Korea after a trip to Japan and visited the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas
  • Borrell is visiting South Korea to take security and defense cooperation between the the EU and Seoul to “the next level”

SEOUL: The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell holds talks on Monday with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul, amid growing concerns in Seoul over the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia for its war with Ukraine.
Borrell arrived in South Korea after a trip to Japan and visited the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, the diplomat said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday.
“My visit today of the Demilitarized Zone — DMZ — between the Republic of Korea and the DPRK is yet another reminder of the need to invest more in peace,” Borrell said in the post, referring to the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Borrell is visiting South Korea to take security and defense cooperation between the the EU and Seoul to “the next level,” he said in another post, without elaborating.
The first such Strategic Dialogue meeting between the EU and South Korea comes as Washington and Seoul have been sounding the alarm about the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia for its war with Ukraine.
Borrell met with South Korea’s defense minister Kim Yong-hyun in Seoul on Monday and expressed concern over the development, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Cho said last week that all possible scenarios were under consideration, when asked about whether Seoul could send weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea’s aiding Russia.
South Korea has provided non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including mine clearance equipment, but so far has resisted Kyiv’s requests for weapons.
Seoul also sees it as likely that the North will be compensated by Moscow with military and civilian technology, as it races to launch a spy satellite and upgrade its missile capabilities.
North Korea last week flexed its military muscle with the test of a huge new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile dubbed Hwasong-19.
Washington expects North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region to enter the fight against Ukraine in the coming days, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said her country intended to back Russia until it achieved victory in the Ukraine war at talks in Moscow on Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.


Eleven injured in militant attack in India-administered Kashmir

Eleven injured in militant attack in India-administered Kashmir
Updated 04 November 2024
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Eleven injured in militant attack in India-administered Kashmir

Eleven injured in militant attack in India-administered Kashmir
  • Militants throw grenade at Indian security forces in crowded Srinagar flea market
  • Kashmir has seen spate of attacks since recent elections in territory 

NEW DELHI: At least 11 people were injured when militants threw a grenade at Indian security forces on Sunday in a crowded flea market in Srinagar, capital of India-administered Kashmir, a police official said.

Militants missed their target and instead injured at least 11 people, the official told Reuters. The official wished to remain unnamed as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The identity of the militant group responsible for the attack is unknown.

The injured were rushed to hospital for treatment where they were in a stable condition, the official said, adding that the explosion had caused panic in the market and sent shoppers scrambling for cover.

The attack comes a day after a top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a militant group, was killed along with two other militants by Indian troops in Kashmir.

Kashmir has seen a spate of attacks since a government formed by an opposition alliance took over the territory, where separatist militants have fought security forces for decades, resulting in thousands of deaths.

Since the new government took over earlier last month, 15 people have died in different militant attacks.

Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by both India and Pakistan, and the 2019 revocation of its special status, which saw it being split into two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, led to the countries downgrading diplomatic ties.


Myanmar junta chief to make first China visit since seizing power

Myanmar junta chief to make first China visit since seizing power
Updated 11 min 42 sec ago
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Myanmar junta chief to make first China visit since seizing power

Myanmar junta chief to make first China visit since seizing power

BEIJING: Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing will travel to China this week to attend regional summits, state media said on Monday, in the embattled top general’s first visit to the influential neighboring nation since he seized power in a 2021 coup.
Since the coup Myanmar has been in chaos, including areas along its border with China, as an armed resistance movement combined with established ethnic minority militias to wrest control of large territories from the military government.
Min Aung Hlaing will attend summits of the Greater Mekong Subregion and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Co-operation Strategy (ACMECS) and join a meeting with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam on Nov.6 and 7 in Kunming, MRTV said.
“He will have meetings and discussions with authorities from China and will work on enhancing the bilateral relationship, economic and development in several sectors,” it said, referring to the junta chief.
The Myanmar military’s deterioration, in the face of rapid gains by anti-junta fighters since a surprise offensive last October, has alarmed China, which has sealed parts of the border and halted key imports to rebel-controlled areas, Reuters has reported.
China has strategic economic interests in Myanmar, including major oil and gas pipelines crossing the country and a planned deep-sea port in the Bay of Bengal.
Beijing also imports rare earths from its smaller neighbor for use in the automotive and wind energy sectors.
“Whether he is going there to receive more Chinese support or more Chinese pressure, it’s only bad for the people,” said David Mathieson, an independent analyst who tracks Myanmar.
“China has made clear they are supporting the SAC and their elections transition plan,” he said, referring to the junta’s State Administration Council, headed by Min Aung Hlaing.
The junta began a nationwide census last month to pave the way for an election next year, despite not having control over wide swathes of the country, and with dozens of political parties disbanded.
Beijing promised technical support and aid to the junta for the census and the proposed election, Myanmar state media said in August after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Min Aung Hlaing.
The meeting, in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, was seen by some critics as Beijing’s endorsement of the junta and activists in the war-torn country have voiced frustration at China’s stance, calling it a barrier to their struggle for democracy.


Pakistan shuts primary schools for a week in Lahore due to dangerous air quality

Pakistan shuts primary schools for a week in Lahore due to dangerous air quality
Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan shuts primary schools for a week in Lahore due to dangerous air quality

Pakistan shuts primary schools for a week in Lahore due to dangerous air quality
  • Some wooden houses caught fire, and the ground was pockmarked with holes caused by flying molten rocks

East Flores: A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted overnight killing at least six people as it spewed fireballs and ash on surrounding villages, officials said Monday, as they raised its alert status to the highest level.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-meter (5,587-feet) twin volcano located on the popular tourist island of Flores, first erupted shortly before midnight, forcing authorities to evacuate several villages.
“Six fatalities have been confirmed,” Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the country’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), told Kompas TV.
Footage received by AFP showed villages near the volcano covered by thick ash, with some areas on fire.
An AFP journalist near the volcano said five villages evacuated, affecting thousands of residents.
Some wooden houses caught fire, and the ground was pockmarked with holes caused by flying molten rocks.
The crater erupted just before midnight and then again at 1:27 am (1727 GMT Sunday) and 2:48 am, the country’s volcanology agency said.
It raised the alert level to the highest and told locals and tourists not to carry out activities within a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius of the crater.
“There has been a significant increase in volcanic activity on Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki,” it said in a press release Monday.
It released images that showed the roofs of houses collapsed after they were hit by volcanic rocks, and locals sheltering in communal buildings.
The volcanology agency warned there was a potential for rain-induced lava floods and told locals to wear masks to avoid the effects of volcanic ash.
There were a series of eruptions at the volcano last week, the biggest on Thursday, sending a column of ash 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) into the sky.
The mountain had several major eruptions in January, prompting authorities at the time to raise the alert status to the highest level and evacuate at least 2,000 residents.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent eruptions due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area of intense volcanic and seismic activity.
In December last year, an eruption at one of the country’s most active volcanoes, Mount Marapi in West Sumatra, killed at least 24 climbers, most of them university students.
And in May, more than 60 people died after heavy rains washed volcanic material from Marapi into residential areas, sweeping away homes.
That month Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi province erupted more than half a dozen times, forcing thousands of residents of nearby islands to evacuate.