Champai Soren to join BJP? Ex-Jharkhand CM lands in Delhi amid switchover buzz
Soon after arriving at Delhi’s Airport, former Jharkhand chief minister and senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren ignored questions on the potential defection and said, “I have come here for my personal work.”
Dem strategists say Harris needs to ensure she’s ‘striking the right balance’ at DNC, seize on ‘momentum’
Vice President Kamala Harris needs to ensure she is “striking the right balance” at the Democratic National Convention, with Democratic strategists explaining it is “critical” for her to share her record with the voters, while focusing on the future and enhancing her “momentum” as the race formally enters the general election. The Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago on Monday and will run through Thursday, when Harris formally accepts the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Top Democrats and supporters from across the nation are expected to coalesce their support behind Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — support they have seen building since President Biden suspended his re-election campaign and the vice president launched her own. Democrat strategists are telling Fox News Digital that Harris needs to make sure she seizes on the “surging voter enthusiasm.” TRUMP CAMPAIGN PICKS UP THE PACE, EYES COUNTER-PROGRAMMING DURING DEMOCRATS’ CONVENTION “The most important thing to do is keep the ball rolling — they have been on a roll for the last couple of weeks,” Brad Bannon, a Democrat strategist, pollster, and President of Bannon Communications Research, told Fox News Digital. “Once President Biden decided to step away, Vice President Kamala Harris did a great job seizing the opportunity — she raised a lot of money quickly; solidified her hold on the nomination; made a great pick that turned out to be very popular in Walz; and what they need to do at this convention is keep the ball rolling and keep that momentum going.” And Max Burns, founder of Third Degree Strategies, a Democrat firm, told Fox News Digital that the enthusiasm is there. “So far the polls and surging voter enthusiasm are both showing Democrats have already successfully launched Kamala Harris as our nominee. Now she’ll have a chance to tell her story to a huge, nationwide audience at the convention,” Burns said, touting Harris’ choice of Walz as her running mate. “Expect the DNC to feel a lot more like a celebration than a dry political convention,” Burns said. TRUMP ARGUES HARRIS IS MORE LIBERAL THAN BERNIE SANDERS – HERE’S WHAT THE VERMONT SENATOR TOLD FOX NEWS A Democratic source also weighed in, urging Harris and Walz to “keep doing what they’re doing.” But Kaivan Shroff, a Democratic strategist, New York delegate and former digital organizer at Hillary for America, told Fox News Digital that the Harris-Walz campaign needs to focus on looking to the future and how their policy proposals will help down the road, versus presenting their past record. “We will obviously hear about the Biden-Harris administration’s historic accomplishments, but that is not enough,” Shroff said. “Voters care a lot less about what you have already done for them than they care about what you will do for them going forward.” Shroff said it is “critical” that Democrats ensure they are “striking the right balance to make sure folks know what Democrats have accomplished, while also focusing on the future.” As for the convention, Shroff said the team of Democrats putting on the event is “extraordinary.” “The production value will impress folks,” he said. “I’ll be looking to see how the already agile and innovative Harris digital operation capitalizes on the storytelling and key moments to bring those not there with us into the room.” Meanwhile, Bannon told Fox News Digital that Harris likely will not attempt to separate herself from President Biden and his administration’s policies “too much.” WHAT THE LATEST POLLS IN THREE KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES SHOW IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN Bannon cited Harris’ newly minted economic policy plan, which she rolled out Friday. The plan would implement federal price controls in order to stop “price gouging” on groceries amid inflation. “The economic program — she did something that I had hoped Biden would do months ago,” Bannon said. “It is a big step she took, and it just shows not only is there going to be a difference in economic policy, but I think her tone overall is a lot different than Biden’s.” Bannon said he anticipates Harris’ campaign will be “a lot more aggressive than Joe Biden’s was.” “Biden represented himself as a calming influence in a divided nation,” Bannon told Fox News Digital. “I think you’re going to see Harris strike a much more aggressive tone.” He added: “I think she set the tone for being much more aggressive the day after Biden stepped aside.”
Strategists pin GOP Senate hopes on Trump base coming ‘home’ ahead of election
Republican strategists are predicting a GOP voter homecoming to support Senate hopefuls and down-ballot Republicans in critical states on election day, despite current figures showing their candidates at a disadvantage. “A lot of the Trump vote just hasn’t put their jersey on for the Republican candidate yet,”one veteran Republican strategist said. However, those voters are expected to “come home” and “vote straight ticket Republican.” In Pennsylvania, a top battleground state, Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick trailed Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., in a New York Times and Siena College poll earlier this month. Half of registered voters in the state opted for the incumbent Democrat, with just 36% saying they would vote for McCormick. DEM SOCIALIST SENATOR RALLIES BEHIND HARRIS’ PRICE-FIXING PLAN: ‘IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD’ “He is dealing with a little bit of a name I.D. problem,” the strategist said of McCormick. “He’s running against an incumbent who bears the name of a family that has been in Pennsylvania politics for a very, very long time. And Casey doesn’t really pop his head up very frequently.” His challenge, per the strategist, is to “link Casey to the unpopular aspects of national Democrats.” But he expressed confidence in McCormick’s ability to do so, praising his campaign so far. “He’s running a great campaign,” the strategist said. He added that the Republican also has all of the monetary resources he needs to pull it off. “If he isn’t able to win this race, it’s just not possible to knock off an incumbent,” the veteran Republican strategist remarked. DEM-ALIGNED GROUP HAMMERS HARRIS’ FORMER VP SHORTLISTER FOR TURNING ‘HIS BACK’ ON BLACK STUDENTS McCormick’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital. Wisconsin Republican candidate, businessman Eric Hovde similarly trailed Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in the same survey, but to a lesser degree. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Hovde spokesman Zach Bannon said, “38-year career politician Sen. Baldwin has done nothing but fail the people of Wisconsin, serving a rubber stamp to the Biden-Harris administration’s reckless spending spree and radical open-border policies. The people of Wisconsin are ready for change and will hold Sen. Baldwin accountable for her decades of failure this fall.” Republican candidates in Arizona and Nevada, Kari Lake and retired Army Captain Sam Brown, respectively, are also considered to be at a disadvantage in their races, as determined by a top non-partisan political handicapper. In addition to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the races in Arizona and Nevada are rated as “Lean Democratic” by the Cook Political Report. Brown’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. TOP CONSERVATIVE THINK TANK EXPOSES HOW DEMS HAVE ‘ABANDONED ORDINARY AMERICANS’ WITH MAJOR SHIFT TO LEFT Per the veteran GOP strategist, Lake, who ran for Arizona governor unsuccessfully in 2022, “has a problem that was created with moderates in Arizona last time she ran. And she’s working on trying to bring them back.” In some Republican circles, strategists are predicting Trump will need to pull off a significant win over Vice President Kamala Harris in Arizona in order to “pull her up.” This could prove difficult, though, as Trump won the state by less than four points in 2016 and lost it by less than one point in 2020. Lake’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. According to the veteran strategist, there’s an expectation that the Senate races “will break similarly to the presidential race,” particularly given the significant decrease in split-ticket voting in recent years. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was the only elected senator during the 2022 midterm elections that differed from her state’s presidential vote. All 34 other Senate races went the way of the respective states’ presidential choices. The strategist further claimed Democrats seem to have “put their jerseys on,” or fall in line behind the party’s Senate candidate, relatively early on in the cycle as a result of the enthusiasm felt following President Biden’s campaign suspension and Vice President Kamala Harris’s replacement of him at the top of the ticket. This was echoed by GOP strategist David Kochel, who said, “dumping Biden was the best thing the [Democrats] could do to reverse their lackluster performance. They have genuine enthusiasm that had been missing throughout the campaign.” TIM SCOTT SAYS AMERICANS ‘SMARTER THAN’ HARRIS ON ECONOMY AMID RELEASE OF CONTROVERSIAL PLAN Per Republican strategist Doug Heye, part of the issue for these candidates could be former President Trump himself. “Trump has a low ceiling,” he explained. He added that “many of those Democrats were being held down by Biden‘s extremely low ceiling” before the president exited the race. However, there could be more to it, argued Jim Kessler, Democratic strategist and former senior aide to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “For a sizable number of voters the Republican Party is simply unattractive,” he said. “And that includes traditional party stalwarts.” He claimed these “traditional” members of the GOP, many aspects of the party in the Trump era have been disheartening and they are holding out hope for a “return to ‘normal’” in the time after his leadership. “But to win the nomination these GOP Senate candidates had to kiss the Trump ring and it turns enough voters off that they are underperforming,” he added. In addition, “Dobbs is a real problem for Republicans. Women and young people are not pleased,” Kessler claimed, suggesting the overturn of Roe v. Wade would continue to haunt Republicans in electoral match-ups. Republican strategist John Feehery attributed some of the Republican struggles to the difficult nature of running against incumbents, as well as “the confusion at the top of the ticket.” He noted that the Republican challengers have yet to unleash many of their television ads, which could be a significant point of momentum for them. As for the Senate race in Montana, the veteran strategist said, “A lot of Republicans feel very confident” in former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy’s chances to unseat Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. But even the Montana race and
Sudan war mediators welcome new pledges on humanitarian access
Countries call for ‘unhindered’ access to respond to growing humanitarian crisis in war-torn African nation. The international mediators engaged in talks to bring Sudan’s war to an end have welcomed decisions by the warring sides to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian relief to the country. In a joint statement on Saturday, the sponsors of the talks in Switzerland lauded the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’s commitment to cooperate with humanitarian deliveries to Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan states. The mediators – the United States, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union and the United Nations – also praised the Sudanese Armed Forces’s decision to open the Adre border crossing with Chad into North Darfur for three months. “These constructive decisions by both parties will enable the entry of aid needed to stop the famine, address food insecurity and respond to immense humanitarian needs in Darfur and beyond,” they said in a joint statement. They also called on the warring sides to “immediately communicate and coordinate with humanitarian partners to efficiently operationalize these corridors with full and unhindered access”. The talks kicked off in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday in the absence of the Sudanese army, which has objected to the format of the negotiations. The war in Sudan, which began last year, has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian and displacement crises. The Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF – under Mohamad Hamdan Dagalo, better known as “Hemedti” – have been vying for power and control of the African country of 46 million people. Rights groups have called on both sides to avoid civilian harm and enable humanitarian access. More than 25 million people are facing acute hunger across Sudan, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed body that monitors global hunger. Earlier this week, the Sudanese army, which dominates the governing Transitional Sovereignty Council, announced the opening of the Adre border crossing into North Darfur. The IPC declared famine in parts of that region on August 1. The RSF had also said it would facilitate the passage of humanitarian convoys through the Debbah crossing, north of Khartoum. “The RSF remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring the safe passage and protection of humanitarian convoys, in strict adherence to international humanitarian law,” the paramilitary group said in a statement. It is not clear whether the two decisions are linked to the Geneva talks. As the negotiations were ongoing in Switzerland, The Associated Press and AFP news agencies reported – citing local and medical sources – that an RSF attack in the Jalgini village in the southeastern state of Sennar killed dozens of people this week. The war in Sudan has displaced more than 10 million people and triggered a public health disaster. On Friday, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said a cholera outbreak has killed at least 316 people in the country. The US has said that the talks in Geneva aim to end the fighting and alleviate the suffering in Sudan. On Friday, Washington called on the Sudanese Armed Forces to join the negotiations. “The opening of Adre border crossing is an important result at a crucial time for humanitarian efforts to deliver assistance to those most in need and to avoid a worsening famine,” US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello said in a social media post. “We continue our efforts to save Sudanese lives and silence the guns. The RSF remains here ready for talks to start; SAF needs to decide to come.” The US has taken a leading role in the Sudan peace talks. The two countries had bitter ties for years until the removal of longtime Sudanese ruler Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown by the military after mass protests in 2019. Khartoum and Washington re-established diplomatic ties in 2020. Sudan also agreed to establish relations with Israel – the US’s top Middle East ally – and was removed from the US’s list of “state sponsors of terrorism”. But efforts to bring Sudan under civilian and democratic rule in the post-Bashir era have failed. The Sudanese military staged a coup against the civilian government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in October 2021, leading to his resignation in early 2022. The fighting between the army and the RSF broke out the following year, and Hemedti was expelled from the Transitional Sovereignty Council. Adblock test (Why?)
Elon Musk’s X to shut operations in Brazil amid bitter legal fight
Social media platform says shutdown ‘effective immediately’ but Brazilian users will still have access to X. Social media giant X has announced it will shutter its operations in Brazil following a legal tussle with a top Brazilian judge over the platform’s rights and responsibilities to counter disinformation. The platform, previously known as Twitter, said on Saturday the shutdown was “effective immediately” but that Brazilian users would still have access to X. “We are deeply saddened that we have been forced to make this decision,” the company said, adding that responsibility for the decision “lies solely” with Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The move is the apparent culmination of a continuing legal battle between Moraes, who has said he is trying to fight the spread of disinformation online, and Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X. Earlier this year, Moraes ordered X to block certain accounts accused of spreading false news and hate messages, including some belonging to supporters of Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro repeatedly peddled false claims that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud before a tightly contested 2022 election. Months after he was defeated by left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a mob of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the top state institutions in the South American country in anger over the results. “Freedom of expression doesn’t mean freedom of aggression,” Moraes, who presides over Brazil’s Superior Electoral Tribunal, has said. “It doesn’t mean the freedom to defend tyranny.” Due to demands by “Justice” @Alexandre in Brazil that would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law, 𝕏 has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil. He is an utter disgrace to justice. https://t.co/yAvX1TpuRp — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2024 On Saturday, X claimed Moraes secretly threatened one of the company’s legal representatives in Brazil with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content from its platform. The social media giant published pictures of a document allegedly signed by Moraes that says a daily fine of 20,000 reais ($3,653) and an arrest decree would be imposed against X representative Rachel Nova Conceicao if the platform did not fully comply with Moraes’s orders. Brazil’s Supreme Court told the Reuters news agency that it would not speak on the matter and would not confirm nor deny the authenticity of the document shared by X. In a separate social media post on Saturday, Musk called Moraes “an utter disgrace to justice”. “The decision to close the X office in Brazil was difficult,” said Musk, adding that if the company had agreed to the judge’s orders, “there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed.” Moraes opened an inquiry earlier this year into the billionaire after Musk said he would reactivate accounts on X that the judge had ordered blocked. After Musk’s challenges, X representatives reversed course and told Brazil’s Supreme Court that the social media giant would comply with the legal rulings. Lawyers representing X in Brazil in April told the Supreme Court that “operational faults” have allowed users who were ordered blocked to stay active on the platform, after Moraes had asked X to explain why it allegedly had not fully complied with his decisions. Adblock test (Why?)
Lemon trees, safety, hope: Memories of my Gaza home before war came
When Israel’s war on Gaza began and we got ready to leave our house, I packed makeup and a favourite book – items that now might seem superfluous. I thought that small reminders of home would bring comfort while we were away waiting out the latest assault. But I didn’t expect to be gone so long – none of us did. We thought this war would be like all the others and it would take a week, maybe a month or two, for the Israeli army to unleash its rage. Now that I’ve lived more than 10 months away from home – the idea of it – is what I miss most. I wonder if I’ll ever enjoy reading on my rooftop or sleeping in my bed again. Is my home even recognisable? I wonder. And will I ever have a home again? I was born in 2002 and raised in Gaza City. I’ve spent 17 of my 21 years living under siege, surviving at least five Israeli military assaults on Gaza. But none of those compare to the length and intensity of this current genocide. These are the cruellest, most painful and surreal days any of us here in Gaza have experienced. For more than 10 months, it has felt like we are reliving the same day over and over – except each day the heartache intensifies. It is always a bomb, a bullet, a shelling, a wave of fright. As the death toll soars, it feels like we are getting further away from negotiations to end this hell. Israel has killed at least 40,005 Palestinians in Gaza. The death toll could be actually closer to 186,000, say researchers writing in the medical journal The Lancet, with countless bodies still trapped under bombed buildings and unknown numbers of people dying from starvation, lack of medical care and collapses in public infrastructure. Those of us living through this hell already know that the death toll is higher. There are houses near us that have been bombed with people inside but until now, no one has been able to clear away the rubble. Nour’s rooftop where she painted and read [Courtesy of Nour Elassy] ‘Where can we go?’ With every bomb dropped, we ask ourselves: “Where do we go? Where can we go?” To me, home was not just my house. It was the feeling of safety within the warmth of its walls, seeing my dresses, the comfort of my pillow. It was the sound of my mother moving around inside. It was the mouthwatering smell of my favourite dish, musakhan – sumac-spiced roast chicken with caramelised onion flatbread – filling up the house. Home was outside, too. It was my university and the road leading to it, the smells of spices in the air, the markets, the yellow lights during the evenings of Ramadan, and the sounds of people praying together and reciting the Quran. In displacement, home has come to mean something else. It is now a place where we can find walls, a bathroom, water, a mattress to lie on and a blanket for cover. At one time, I thought that covering my face with a blanket could somehow protect me during an attack. I don’t believe that any more. The nightstand in Nour’s Gaza City home [Courtesy of Nour Elassy] The day everything changed I will never forget October 7. It was not only the day we left our home in the north, it was also the day we left our hopes for the future behind. I once dreamed of becoming a writer, of finishing my Bachelor’s in literature and completing my Master’s abroad. I would return to Gaza and educate young people about our history and heritage. I also wanted to continue painting and eventually open an art gallery. However, my biggest dream was to see my country free. Early on that Saturday, about 6am, there was a barrage of rockets across the skies of north Gaza. My younger sister was preparing to go to high school. Little did we know that it would be the last day of school – not just for her, but for everyone, that both students and institutions would be obliterated. The sound of explosions woke me. I was terrified. I had no idea what was happening. My brother, who lived in Deir el-Balah, called my father. He was worried: Our house is very close to the eastern border, and it made us potentially vulnerable in a land invasion. Together, they agreed that it would be best to move to my brother’s house – in central Gaza, and further away from the border. Today, we still remain displaced in Deir el-Balah. Nour lit a candle to celebrate her 21st birthday on September 28, 2023. This photo was taken in her room in Gaza City [Courtesy of Nour Elassy] Simple pleasures War makes us miss the simple – even banal – pleasures of daily life. I miss our garden back home, with its fragrant roses and olive, palm and orange trees. Most of all I miss the lemon trees – the delicate scent of their white blossoms. On summer evenings, my family would spend time among the trees, and in winters, we would build a fire to stay warm. I miss Gaza City’s youthful cafes and bustling streets – its life – even when there was little water or no power due to constant electricity cuts. And I loved climbing up on our rooftop with a coffee and vanilla cupcakes to read. When we left on October 7, I didn’t spend much time thinking about what to take. I brought a copy of Wuthering Heights, my pyjamas and makeup – everyday items to help make displacement feel a tiny bit normal. I even packed some vanilla cupcakes – some sweet solace for what may come. I haven’t eaten cake since. All we have is dry bread and whatever canned food we manage to buy. A typical morning with a cupcake (L) before
Hindenburg Saga: SEBI chief Madhabi Puri-Buch’s Blackstone connection raises new questions
Madhabi Puri Buch’s close connections with American private equity major Blackstone raise several questions about conflict of interest
Jaipur: Several hospitals receive bomb threats
The police team and bomb disposal squad reached the hospitals immediately after getting the information.
New NYC Council bill would limit pepper spray use in jails except in emergency situations
A new proposal being considered by the New York City Council would limit correction officers’ use of pepper spray to control inmates acting out in the city’s jails. The bill, introduced Thursday, would require correction officers to obtain authorization from their tour commander before using high-powered oleoresin capsicum sprays, otherwise known as pepper spray, on inmates except in emergency situations. Democrat Councilwoman Sandy Nurse, who chairs the criminal justice committee, introduced the bill at Thursday’s council meeting, putting it on the agenda but never discussing it, according to the New York Post. Democrat Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán signed onto the legislation as a co-sponsor. Under the proposal, pepper spray could only be fired in “emergency cases when a delay in use … presents an immediate threat of death or serious injury or severely threatens the safety or security of the facility.” FORMER NYPD COP-TURNED GOP CANDIDATE SLAMS ‘LUDICROUS’ CLAIMS AFTER $120K WRONGFUL ARREST SETTLEMENTS SURFACE But the city’s correction officers union is warning that this bill puts both correction officers and inmates in harm’s way, with the group’s president, Benny Boscio, telling the New York Post that deploying chemical agents “actually makes it less likely for inmates and officers to sustain serious injuries than by using physical force instead.” “We invite Councilmember Nurse and any other councilmembers who support this reckless legislation to spend a full day with us in a housing area with gang-affiliated inmates and see if they still think our officers’ hands should be tied when utilizing chemical agents,” Boscio told the outlet. Boscio also explained that Nurse was at a criminal justice committee hearing in September 2022 in which female correction officers recounted their experiences of being sexually assaulted. He said Nurse “should know full well by now that chemical agents are only used in emergency situations, and it must be deployed immediately in order to save the lives of anyone in our jails who is being attacked by assaultive inmates.” The bill “will only put correction officers in danger, so I am very confident it will pass the City Council,” Republican Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli told the New York Post in jest. The legislation was introduced after a city jails oversight board released a report in February criticizing the New York City Department of Correction’s “overreliance on chemical agents.” NYC MAYOR BLOCKS LAW LIMITING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT The Board of Correction found there were 2,972 pepper spray “incidents” in city jails during the first 10 months of 2023, an increase of nearly 50% from the first 10 months of 2018. The board also pointed to 24 examples in October in which correction officers deployed pepper spray on mentally ill inmates without first consulting mental health staff, as required. The report further cited eight cases that same month, when officers used pepper spray on inmates attempting to hang themselves instead of first cutting or removing the ropes or other ligature. This comes after the city council approved a bill in December to severely limit the use of solitary confinement in jails, although Democrat Mayor Eric Adams signed an emergency executive order last month blocking major parts of the measure shortly before it was slated to go into effect.
Kolkata Rape-Murder Case: Centre asks states to provide 2-hourly situation report in wake of doctors’ protest
In a communication to the state police forces, the home ministry said that the law and order situation of all states should be monitored in view of the protests.