Is Israel’s killing of civilians putting ceasefire talks at risk?
Calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza are growing louder. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands injured in Israel’s war on Gaza. The United Nations has warned of famine, and says the healthcare system is on its knees. But nearly five months since the start of the devastating war, there is no let up in Israel’s daily attacks. Qatar, the United States and Egypt have been mediating talks for a ceasefire, but there are fears the constant bombardment could threaten those discussions. Israel’s killing of more than 100 Palestinians as they waited to collect food on Thursday is threatening to inflame the region. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists his military offensive will continue until his goals are achieved. So, what does that mean for ceasefire negotiations? Presenter: Jonah Hull Guests: Yossi Beilin – Former Israeli justice minister Ibrahim Fraihat – Associate professor of conflict resolution at the Doha Institute Mohammed Cherkaoui – Professor of conflict resolution and diplomacy at George Mason University Adblock test (Why?)
Trump leads Biden among Hispanics, registered voters overall: poll
Former President Donald Trump holds a six-point lead over President Biden among Hispanic voters, according to a new survey released Saturday. The New York Times/Siena College poll, which was conducted from February 25 to 28 and included responses from 980 registered voters nationwide, asked respondents whom they would support in the 2024 presidential election if it were held today. Between candidates Biden and Trump, 46% of Hispanics who responded to the poll said they would vote for Trump, while 40% said they would support Biden. Among all respondents who took part in the survey, Trump also leads Biden, with 48% saying they would vote for him and 43% insisting they would vote for Biden. POLL SHOWS BIDEN’S LEAD OVER TRUMP SHRINKING IN 2024 MATCHUP AS CONCERNS OVER PHYSICAL FITNESS GROW In a head-to-head matchup between Biden and GOP hopeful Nikki Haley, voters preferred Haley by 10 percentage points. Haley got 45% support among all voters, while Biden earned 35% support in the poll. Haley was also well ahead of Biden among Hispanic voters: 43% of Latino voters in the poll said they would support the former U.N. ambassador, compared to just 31% who expressed support for Biden. The newly released polling data falls in line with that of other recent surveys, many of which have shown Trump gaining support among Hispanics, and Biden losing support among the key voting bloc. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll from late December showed Biden trailing Trump by five points among 1,000 likely voters in the Hispanic community. Similarly, a Univision poll from late last year indicated that Trump is gaining ground among Hispanic voters with a 4% uptick in support among the key demographic from a January 2021 Univision poll. Earlier this year, during an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Monet Flores-Bacs, the strategic director at the New Mexico-based nonprofit LIBRE Initiative, said the “[conservative] message is really resonating with us.” “Unfortunately, Biden’s policies for Hispanics, for most Democrats, it’s worked in the past, but we’re feeling it at the grocery store, we’re feeling it at the gas station. Even in just the last election, tax policy didn’t affect even myself and other young voters the way that they do this election, so we’re feeling it in our bank account at the grocery store. We’re going to vote based on that,” she continued. EX-DEM LAWMAKER SAYS HIS PARTY APPROACHES LATINO VOTERS ‘IN A VERY IGNORANT FASHION’: ‘THAT DRIVES ME NUTS’ Echoing Flores-Bacs, Campus Reform correspondent Pedro Rodriguez previously told Fox News that the “answer lies within the pocketbooks” when it comes to support for certain candidates. “Hispanics are entrepreneurs, and with Biden’s America right now, Hispanics are struggling to stay afloat, and Hispanic small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit is dying,” he said. “Under Biden’s leadership, leftist policies have hurt young Americans. Financial insecurity is among the highest it’s ever been with young Hispanics.” “Young Hispanics are going to flock behind the candidate they can support and champion working-class families, reduce inflation and pave the way for better economic and entrepreneurial opportunities here in the United States and not desecrate the American way of life,” he added. The new polling data comes as Biden continues to grapple with the ongoing crisis at the southern border. Nearly 7.3 million migrants have illegally crossed the southern border under Biden’s watch, a Fox News analysis revealed last month. That figure comes from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has already reported 961,537 border encounters in the current fiscal year, which runs from October through September. If the current pace of illegal immigration does not slow down, fiscal year 2024 will break last year’s record of 2,475,669 southern border encounters — a number that by itself exceeds the entire population of New Mexico, a border state. The official total number of southern land border encounters since Biden assumed office in 2021 is 7,298,486, CBP data shows. That number is larger than the populations of 36 U.S. states. Both Trump and Biden made dueling visits to the southern border earlier this week.
Rubymar cargo ship earlier hit by Houthis has sunk, Yemeni government says
The UK-owned bulk carrier was struck on February 18 with multiple missiles resulting in an oil slick in the Red Sea. The cargo ship Rubymar, which was abandoned in the southern Red Sea after being targeted by Houthi rebels last month, has sunk, according to Yemen’s internationally recognised government. “The MV Rubymar sank last night, coinciding with weather factors and strong winds at sea,” a crisis cell of Yemen’s government in charge of the case said in a statement on Saturday. A military official, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity as no authorisation was given to speak to journalists, confirmed the incident. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO), which watches over Middle East waterways, separately also acknowledged the Rubymar’s sinking, AP reported. However, Roy Khoury, chief executive of the ship’s operator Blue Fleet, told the AFP news agency he was unaware of the sinking. “We have nobody on board to check if it’s true or not,” he said. The Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, United Kingdom-owned cargo ship which transported combustible fertilisers, was hit by missiles on February 18 while sailing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The crew then abandoned the vessel and evacuated to safety. Yemen’s Houthis – who say they have been targeting ships linked to Israel, the United States and the UK in an attempt to pressure them to end Israel’s war on Gaza – claimed responsibility for the attack. Rubymar’s sinking marks the first vessel lost since the Iran-backed Houthis began targeting commercial shipping in November. Potential ‘environmental catastrophe’ Yemen’s government statement said the ship sunk on Friday night and warned of an “environmental catastrophe”. Yemen’s internationally recognised government is based in the southern port of Aden, while the Houthis control much of the north and other large centres. The ship was carrying more than 41,000 tonnes of fertiliser when it came under attack, the US military’s Central Command previously said. On Monday, a Yemeni government team visited the Rubymar and said it was partially submerged and could sink within a couple of days. The US military previously said the attack had significantly damaged the freighter and caused an 18-mile (29km) oil slick. The Houthi attacks launched against shipping vessels affiliated with Israel are a response to Israel’s war on Gaza, the group has said. The attacks have disrupted international trade on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. Rerouting vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, the Cape Peninsula in South Africa, can add up to two weeks to a shipment’s journey and between 3,000 and 6,000 extra nautical miles (between 5,556 and 11,112km). In response to the attacks on ships, the US and UK began launching strikes against targets in Yemen in January. The US also renamed the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity. The attacks and counter-attacks have stoked fears that Israel’s war on Gaza could spread, destabilising the wider Middle East. Adblock test (Why?)
US airdrops food into Gaza in move criticised by aid groups
United States military cargo planes have air-dropped food into Gaza, in the first of series of aid drops as humanitarian groups criticise Israel for blocking access to the besieged and bombarded strip. The US, together with Jordan’s air force, “conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Gaza … to provide essential relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict”, US Central Command said in a statement on Saturday. The C-130 planes “dropped over 38,000 meals along the coastline of Gaza allowing for civilian access to the critical aid”, it added, as the enclave faces a humanitarian crisis after almost five months of war. US President Joe Biden had announced a day earlier that the US would airdrop aid there after more than 100 Palestinians were killed on Thursday in northern Gaza while queuing for aid. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that the US will carry out multiple airdrops in the next few weeks, which will be coordinated with Jordan. Kirby said the airdrops have an advantage over trucks because planes can move aid to a particular area quickly. However, in terms of volume, the airdrops will be “a supplement to, not a replacement for moving things in by ground”, he added. The Biden administration is also considering shipping aid by sea from Cyprus, according to a US official. Since Israel’s war began on October 7 following Hamas’s attack, Israel has barred the entry of food, water, medicine and other supplies, except for a tiny trickle of aid entering the south from Egypt at the Rafah crossing and Israel’s Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing. ‘The US is weak’ The US’s move has been criticised as inefficient and simply a public relations move by members of international aid organisations. “The airdrops are symbolic and designed in ways to appease the domestic base,” Dave Harden, former USAID director to the West Bank, told Al Jazeera. “Really what needs to happen is more crossings [opening] and more trucks going in every day?” “I think the United States is weak and that’s really disappointing to me,” Harden added. “The US has the ability to compel Israel to open up more aid and by not doing that we’re putting our assets and our people at risks and potentially creating more chaos in Gaza.” UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) echoed Harden’s statement, telling Al Jazeera in a statement that the US, the UK and others should instead work to “ensure that Israel immediately opens all crossings into Gaza for aid.” Oxfam also blasted the Biden administration’s plans, labelling the effort an attempt to assuage the guilty consciences of US officials. “While Palestinians in Gaza have been pushed to the absolute brink, dropping a paltry, symbolic amount of aid into Gaza with no plan for its safe distribution would not help and be deeply degrading to Palestinians,” Scott Paul, who leads Oxfam’s US government advocacy work, said in a statement on X. US is considering airdrops of aid into Gaza. My statement: “Oxfam does not support US airdrops to Gaza, which would mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials whose policies are contributing to the ongoing atrocities and risk of famine in Gaza. 1/ — Scott Paul (@ScottTPaul) February 29, 2024 The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also criticised the US for acting as a “weak, marginal state” unable to secure aid to Palestinians. US Senator Bernie Sanders, however, welcomed the US’s move. “I applaud President Biden for understanding that there is a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Sanders said on X. Mahjoob Zweiri, the director of the Gulf Study Centre in Doha, told Al Jazeera the international community is not putting enough pressure on Israel to allow the waiting aid trucks to enter Gaza by land. “Why not send food in through Karem Abu Salem?” Zweiri said. “There are 2,000 trucks waiting to get into Gaza” at border crossings, he said, while food and medicines pile up for months past their expiry dates. “Why isn’t the international community not putting enough effort into delivering aid in an organised manner?” he asked. Adblock test (Why?)
Seven killed in Russian drone attack on Odesa apartment block
Separate attacks killed an additional three people in Ukraine as Zelenskyy urges the West to deliver more air defences. A Russian drone attack on an apartment block in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa has killed at least seven people, including a three-year-old and a woman with an infant child, regional authorities said. “Rescuers in Odesa have just uncovered the bodies of a mother with a three-month-old baby,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a post on the Telegram app on Saturday. At the scene, smoke poured from rubble strewn across the ground where the drone had ripped a chunk several storeys high out of the building. Clothes and furniture were scattered in the ruined mass of concrete and steel hanging off the side of the apartment block. Ukraine’s State Emergencies Service posted photos, including of a dead toddler being placed in a body bag by rescuers. “This is impossible to forget! This is impossible to forgive,” it wrote. It said five people including a child had been rescued alive. Odesa region governor Oleh Kiper said eight people were wounded, and rescuers were still looking for more people under the debris. Zelenskyy calls for more air defences Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the drone was a Shahed supplied by Iran. Russia has launched several thousand of these long-range winged drones throughout the war at targets deep inside Ukraine. Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Kyiv, said a total of 17 Shahed drones targeted Ukraine in the overnight attacks, with most of them intercepted by air defences. [Al Jazeera] Separate shelling attacks on the front-line Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions killed three, Ukrainian officials have said. The spate of attacks led Zelenskyy to re-iterate his calls on the West to deliver more air defence systems. “We need more air defences from our partners. We need to strengthen the Ukrainian air shield to add more protection for our people from Russian terror. More air defence systems and more missiles for air defence systems save lives,” he said. Ukraine is currently on the back foot in the two-year war as a crucial $60bn aid package is held up in the US Congress. Local residents react at the site of an apartment building heavily damaged by a Russian drone attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa on March 2, 2024 [Stringer/Reuters] Drone crashes into building in St Petersburg Ukraine also appears to have launched an attack of its own, with a drone striking a five-storey residential building in St Petersburg, Russia’s second city, on Saturday causing no casualties, according to Russia’s National Guard division. Videos on Russian social media showed what appeared to be a drone spiralling downwards into the building, triggering an explosion, blowing out windows and causing small fires. The city’s National Guard division said its preliminary assumption was the damage was caused by a “falling drone”. Ukrainian media reported that the drone was shot down by Russia’s air defences while targeting an oil depot around a kilometre from the crash site. Kyiv has hit several Russian oil facilities in recent months in what it has called fair retribution for Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine’s power grid. Adblock test (Why?)
Biden hit with record disapproval rating in new poll as Trump holds lead
Former President Trump is leading President Biden in a new poll from the New York Times/Sienna College released Saturday, with voters saying they have little confidence in Biden’s leadership. The survey found that 43% of respondents said they would vote for Biden if the election were held today, while 48% said they would vote for Trump. The poll further found that 47% of respondents “strongly disapprove” of Biden’s handling of the presidency, in addition to 14% who said they “somewhat disapprove.” Just 17% stated that they “strongly approve” of Biden’s handling of the job. NYT and Sienna conducted the poll from Feb. 25-28, surveying 980 registered voters across the country. The poll was conducted in both English and Spanish using cellphones and landline telephones. It advertised a margin of error of 4%. POLLS SHOW BIDEN FACING ‘ENTHUSIASM GAP’ HEADING INTO 2024 ELECTION SEASON EX-ICE CHIEF SCOFFS AT HOCHUL’S SUDDEN OUTRAGE OVER VIOLENT MIGRANTS: ‘POLITICAL COVER’ The poll further found that just one in four voters believe the country is headed in the right direction. And the number of Americans who believe Biden’s policies have hurt them is double the number who believe they have helped, according to the Times. With regard to the border, 50% of respondents said they would support restricting migrants’ ability to apply for asylum, while just 43% said they would oppose the move. The numbers were even worse for Biden when it comes to the economy, with 74% of Americans saying it is “poor” or “only fair,” compared to 26% who said the economy is doing “good” or “excellent.” TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO KEEP NAME ON COLORADO BALLOT The survey was not all good news for Trump, however, as 53% of respondents said they believe he has committed “serious federal crimes.” The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether Trump can be removed from state ballots over allegations that he engaged in “insurrection” with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He also faces several indictments relating to the 2020 election and other alleged crimes.
Trump defeats Haley in Missouri’s Republican caucuses
Donald Trump will win the Missouri Republican caucuses, the Associated Press projects, delivering yet another victory for the former president against former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The Associated Press called the race for Trump early Saturday afternoon. The former president was expected to cruise to victory after big wins in every contest prior to Saturday. After her loss in her home state of South Carolina, Haley vowed to remain in the race at least through Super Tuesday on March 5, where voters in 15 states will head to the polls to make their choice for president. DEMS MOCK RNC FOR ‘DESPERATE’ FUNDRAISING DRIVE THAT INCLUDES STARK ADMISSION ON DNC’S MONEY ADVANTAGE Even though Trump is the clear winner of the state, Missouri awards 51 of its 54 delegates through a months-long process called a “caucus-convention system” that only begins with Saturday’s caucusing. The system dictates that 11 delegates will be awarded to candidates at the state level and five will be awarded from each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. The three remaining delegates are the chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, and its national committeeman and committeewoman, who can support any candidate they wish, regardless of the caucus results. A candidate that wins the support of more than 50% of the vote at a particular caucus site wins all the delegates at stake at that caucus. The delegates are awarded proportionately if no candidate clears the 50% threshold. Democrats will hold their primary in Missouri on March 23. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Meet Abdul Salam, the only Muslim leader in BJP’s list of 195 candidates
Abdul Salam, former Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University, is set to contest from Malappuram, Kerala.
America First Legal sues FEC to force action on Hunter Biden laptop deniers during 2020 campaign
After the Federal Election Commission declined to act against Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign for the laptop-denying statement by 51 former intelligence officials, a conservative watchdog group is trying to force action. America First Legal sued the FEC in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to force the agency that polices campaign donations and spending to act. “The FEC decided we’re not going to act on this. So, what the district court will do, our hope, is that it will order the FEC to investigate and take this seriously,” Daniel Epstein, vice president of America First Legal, told Fox News Digital. In October, the group filed an FEC complaint against the Biden for President campaign from 2020, the Biden Victory Fund, the Biden Action Fund and the Democratic National Committee for failing to report indirect contributions from the later-debunked statement by the 51 officials released on October 19, 2020, just weeks before the November 8 election, and just days before a presidential debate. DOJ FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGES HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP IS REAL, CONTENTS MATCH APPLE ICLOUD BACKUPS The statement claimed without evidence that the Hunter Biden laptop was likely part of a “Russian disinformation” campaign. If the FEC doesn’t act, it is “effectively encouraging disinformation to the public that may influence the election,” Epstein continued. An FEC spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the agency doesn’t comment on litigation. Neither the 2024 Biden presidential campaign nor the DNC responded to inquiries for this story. The FEC has 60 days to respond to the lawsuit. Epstein anticipates the agency will file a motion to remand the matter back to the FEC for investigation. In March 2023, former Obama administration CIA Deputy and Acting Director Michael Morrell testified to the House Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees that on October 17, 2020, then-Biden campaign staffer Antony Blinken, now the secretary of state, contacted him to discuss drafting a statement to attack the Hunter Biden laptop story first reported by the New York Post. Morrell circulated the statement among other anti-Trump former intelligence officials. The 51 former officials who signed on included Leon Panetta, John Brennan and James Clapper from the Barack Obama administration, as well as Michael Hayden from the George W. Bush administration — all vocal critics of Trump. Eventually, both the New York Times and Washington Post verified the authenticity of the Hunter Biden laptop. EX-NY TIMES EDITOR SAYS STAFFERS WERE WORRIED ‘LENDING CREDENCE’ TO HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY WOULD HURT DEMS “Because Morrell, Brennan, Clapper, and the other signatories were supposedly ‘nonpartisan’ national security and intelligence experts, their public statement was a campaign contribution of substantial value to the respondents, who solicited the ‘Letter of 51’ from them for the express purpose of influencing the 2020 presidential election,” the AFL lawsuit says. “Yet, the respondents failed to report the contribution and to identify the individuals who made it.” The lawsuit — like the original FEC complaint — quotes an email at the time among the intelligence experts, saying, “[W]e think Trump will attack Biden on the issue at this week’s debate and we want to offer perspectives on this from Russia watchers and other seasoned experts.” Another said they wanted to give Biden “a talking point to use in response” if Trump brings up the laptop. In an October 22, 2020 presidential debate, Biden referred to the 51 intelligence officials’ letter during a presidential debate. The lawsuit also notes that it was used for an immense amount of media coverage. 2020 DEBATE CLAIMS ARE COMING BACK TO HAUNT BIDEN AS GOP PROBES INTO HUNTER SWIRL: ‘LIE, DENY, COUNTER ACCUSE’ The Biden campaign resources were used to solicit the letter, and the coordination that produced the letter became something of significant value to the Biden campaign. Failure to report something of value violates the Federal Election Campaign Act that the FEC is required to enforce, the lawsuit says. “The proper administration of the act includes ensuring that all disclosure reports are correctly and timely filed with the commission,” the complaint to the D.C. District Court says. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, if the FEC fails to act on a complaint within 120 days, a complainant can take the case to court. A court could determine that failure to act is contrary to the law and direct the commission to conform to the law within 30 days. The lawsuit references a survey that found almost four of five Americans who followed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal thought that honest news coverage would have changed the outcome of the election. The survey by Technometric Institute of Policy and Politics was released in August 2022. “If you firmly believed that this [the laptop story] was disinformation, and you wanted to tell the truth to the public, and this wasn’t about an attempt to defraud the public in order to influence the election, why were you so secretive about this?” Epstein told Fox News Digital. “Why not say, ‘Maybe this is a campaign coordination, and we should report it,’ and say with a straight face, ‘Out of an abundance of caution, we reported this to the FEC’?”
Chad interim leader Deby confirms plan to run for president in May
The announcement comes days after the military chief’s main rival was killed in murky circumstances. Chad’s military leader has said that he will run in the country’s long-awaited presidential elections in May, just three days after his chief rival was killed in suspicious circumstances. “I, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, am a candidate for the 2024 presidential election under the banner of the For a United Chad coalition,” Deby said in a speech on Saturday. The vote will mark the end of three years of military rule in the politically charged Central African country. Deby took power after his father and longtime ruler, Idriss Deby Itno, died fighting rebels in the country’s north in April 2021. The younger Deby promised a return to civilian rule, as well as elections, but the leader extended the transition by two years, despite loud objections from opposition parties. Last week, the country’s elections agency finally announced that the vote would be held on May 6, following a December referendum promising to amend the constitution. “Mahamat Idriss Deby said it was not his intention to run for president. He said his focus when he took over from his father when he was killed on the front lines was to stabilise Chad, to ensure that the institutions of governance continue as well as to provide peace and stability to the country and the region,” Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris noted, reporting from Chad’s capital N’Djamena on Saturday. “Now, he has been endorsed by a coalition of more than 220 political parties and associations. “But that declaration has been overshadowed by events of the past weeks, which include the raid on the main opposition political party headquarters, the demolition of the party headquarters and the killing of its leader, as well as the arrest of several other members of the political party. Many people feel that that could affect the credibility of the elections on May 6,” Idris said. A man casts his vote at a polling station during the constitutional referendum in N’Djamena, on December 17, 2023 [File: Denis Sassou Gueipeur/AFP] Deby’s candidacy confirmation has come just days after one of his main opponents was killed in a military operation in the capital N’Djamena. Yaya Dillo Djerou, a cousin of president Deby, died on Wednesday after troops attacked the office of his Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF). PSF officials have accused soldiers of killing Dillo in an “execution” before the May vote, in which he planned to run. Several people were injured in the attacks. In a statement on Friday, Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into the killing of the politician, known simply as Yaya Dillo, and questioned how ready N’djamena was for free and fair elections. “The circumstances of Yaya Dillo’s killing are unclear, but his violent death highlights the dangers facing opposition politicians in Chad, particularly as elections approach,” Lewis Mudge of HRW said. “The prime minister and other key national figures should publicly call for an independent investigation into his death with an eye toward ensuring greater accountability before the election,” Mudge added, referring to Prime Minister Succes Masra. Chadian authorities have rejected the accusations against them, saying Dillo “opposed his arrest” and fired on security forces. Adblock test (Why?)