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UAE, Azerbaijan, Brazil join forces to limit global warming to 1.5C

Three former and future UN climate summit hosts will form a ‘troika’ to to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil, former and future hosts of UN climate summits, are joining forces to push for an international agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). On Tuesday, the UAE’s Conference of the Parties (COP28) presidency said that it would form a “troika” to focus on ensuring that more ambitious CO2-cutting pledges are made ahead of a deadline at the COP30 summit to be held in 2025 in Belem, Brazil. Azerbaijan will host this year’s United Nations climate event in November. “We cannot afford to lose momentum, we must do everything we can to keep 1.5 C within reach,” said Sultan Al Jaber, the Emirati president of last year’s negotiations. In 2015, almost 200 governments signed the unprecedented Paris climate agreement to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy in the second half of the century by capping global warming at 1.5C. That target is fast slipping out of reach, as global greenhouse gas emissions continue to soar. The next round of countries’ climate targets is seen as a crucial last chance to prevent global warming exceeding the 1.5C limit. The troika partnership should “significantly enhance international cooperation and the international enabling environment to stimulate ambition in the next round of nationally determined contributions”, read the final agreement reached at COP28. Last week European climate monitors reported that for the first time global warming had exceeded temperatures of 1.5C over a 12-month period, in what scientists called a “warning to humanity”. Storms, drought and fires lashed the planet as climate change, as well as the El Nino weather phenomenon that warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, made 2023 the planet’s hottest year in global records going back to 1850. “The troika helps ensure we have the collaboration and continuity required to keep the North Star of 1.5C in sight – from Baku to Belem and beyond,” Al Jaber said in a statement. Taking into account current climate pledges, the world is still on track to warm between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius over this century, according to UN estimates. The 1.5C limit will probably be reached between 2030 and 2035, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Little progress At COP28, the world agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels, but there was no progress on unblocking financial flows to developing countries, a major sticking point in negotiations. This issue is set to be a central theme of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where a new target is expected to be set for the financial support provided by developed countries for climate change. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, rich countries are about two years late in meeting their initial pledge of $100bn in annual climate funding by 2022. The UN’s high-level expert group on climate finance said in 2022 that developing nations, excluding China, need to spend some $2.4 trillion a year on clean energy and climate resilience by 2030 – four times current levels. “We are committed to leveraging our strength as a bridge builder between the developed and developing world as host of COP29, to accelerate efforts to keep 1.5 in reach,” said COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev, who is Azerbaijan’s minister of ecology and natural resources. “Key to that will be establishing a new climate finance goal that reflects the scale and urgency of the climate challenge.” Adblock test (Why?)

Tight security and barricades as Indian farmers march to New Delhi

Indian authorities have deployed heavy security to stop thousands of protesting farmers who were marching towards New Delhi to renew their demands for assured crop prices in a repeat of 2021 protests when they camped on the capital’s outskirts for more than a year. Police sealed multiple entry points into New Delhi on Tuesday by erecting barriers of barbed wire, spikes and cement blocks. Large gatherings in the capital were banned and internet services were suspended in some districts of the neighbouring state of Haryana. The renewed protests come more than two years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew controversial agriculture laws that had triggered the demonstrations in which tens of thousands of farmers hunkered outside the capital through a harsh winter and a devastating COVID-19 surge. The farmers, who began their march from the northern states of Haryana and Punjab, are asking for a guaranteed minimum support price for all farm produce. The government protects agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices by announcing a minimum purchase price on certain essential crops at the beginning of the sowing season, taking into account the cost of production. Farmers are also pressing the government to meet its promise to double their income. The withdrawal of the agricultural laws in November 2021 was seen as a major retreat by the Modi government. The government at that time said it would set up a panel of farmers and government officials to find ways to ensure support prices for all farm produce. Multiple meetings since then have made no progress. The march comes just months before national elections in India, in which Modi is widely expected to win a third term. Farmers form the most influential voting bloc in India and politicians have long considered it unwise to alienate them. Some farmer and trade unions have also announced a countrywide rural strike on Friday. Adblock test (Why?)

Senate on path to advance foreign aid bill despite some Republican opposition

The Senate is on track to pass the $95 billion national security supplemental package to assist Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific after the upper chamber passed several major procedural votes on Monday night.  The supplemental package does not include any border provisions and several Republicans spent days — since Saturday — collectively filibustering the package on the Senate floor, which continued into Tuesday morning. The bill passed its final hurdle Monday night and the final vote could come anytime Tuesday, but no later than Wednesday, depending on how long Republicans can delay the vote. The bill still has no time agreement, meaning a formal agreement between Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., regarding the time allocated for debating the legislation or its amendments. Both leaders have been urging their party members to pass the package.  REPUBLICANS ATTEMPT TO GET HARDLINE BORDER SECURITY BILL INTO FOREIGN AID PACKAGE Sen. Mike Lee, who spent four hours lambasting the bill on the floor on Saturday, urged senators to reconsider voting for its passage.  “We cannot send billions of dollars to Ukraine while America’s own borders are bleeding,” Lee said on Saturday. “This betrayal is all the more loathsome as it occurs at a time when the eyes of a nation are turned to sport, family and fun.” By Monday, GOP senators were hoping for a breakthrough to get their amendments heard. Several amendments filed included hardline border security-related provisions.  Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., vice chair of the appropriations committee, said on Monday morning that “leadership on both sides of the aisle as well as the bill managers on both sides of the aisle have been working diligently night and day to try to get agreement to take consider debate and have votes on a series of amendments offered by senators on both sides of the aisle.”  “Obviously, in order for that to occur, we would need the cooperation of all members and we would need to have time agreements because the number of amendments is considerable,” she said. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a hawkish figure against continued aid to Ukraine, also spent significant time on the floor Monday prior to the vote.  SENATE REPUBLICANS PREPARE FOR LONG HAUL IN FIGHT OVER UKRAINE, ISRAEL AID “Senate Republican leadership, including the senators who voted to get on this bill, assured us it would be an open amendment process,” Paul told Fox News Digital on Monday. “Mike Lee spent four hours trying to bring down amendments and the Democrats allowed zero of them. So yeah, I do believe that the Democrats have not been honest or forthright about allowing amendments.” On Sunday, Schumer said on the floor that there would be a “fair and reasonable amendment votes” on the floor “if there’s any possibility of speeding this process up.”  However, Republicans who are against passing the aid bill don’t want the process to be sped up and argue they should be allowed to offer amendments even if they don’t support the overall bill.  “And members on their side have actually said since we’re not for the overall bill, we shouldn’t even have the right to have amendments,” Paul said Monday night. “So no, it’s a terrible process and we’re going to continue to fight them on this and talking filibusters are ongoing as we speak, and the talking filibuster will be going on as long as we have speakers into the night.” SENATE TANKS IMMIGRATION, FOREIGN AID SPENDING PACKAGE AFTER GOP BACKLASH AGAINST BORDER PROVISIONS Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., another dissenting vote for the foreign aid-only package, also told Fox News Digital on Monday night that “they don’t want amendments because they’d be bad votes for some of the senators and the Democratic side of their elections coming up.” He explained the party is split on the issue of more aid to Ukraine.  The former football coach also offered an amendment to the package he said, which would “pretty much close the border down” and “doing the things at the border that we already have laws for.” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also introduced an amendment identical to the House’s immigration bill, H.R.2, which would restore most Trump-era restrictions, hire additional border patrol officers and tighten asylum screenings. Republican Sens. Roger Marshall, JD Vance, and Josh Hawley were just a few other senators who spoke in opposition to the bill on Monday, continuing the filibuster. Meanwhile, GOP Sens. Mitt Romney and Thom Tillis were just a few who urged their colleagues to “delay” no further and pass the package.  The package includes $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza and nearly $5 billion for the Indo-Pacific. Democrats brought the package up for a vote after Republicans had blocked the $118 billion package that also included numerous border and immigration provisions last Wednesday.  Republicans had previously said they would not approve funding for Ukraine unless the overwhelmed southern border was secured first. The GOP-led House said in a statement Monday they would not pass the Senate’s foreign aid bill without border security provisions, and instead, would work on their own bill.  “House Republicans were crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border,” Johnson said in a statement Monday evening, in part. “The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world. It is what the American people demand and deserve. Now, in the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters. America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”

Swalwell campaign continues lavish spending, including at 5-star Dubai resort, luxury car service

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Eric Swalwell’s campaign has regularly dropped large amounts of money on luxury items such as posh hotels, flights, yachts and limousines, including international travel. The California Democrat has continued the trend as far away from his district as the United Arab Emirates in the final three months of 2023, Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show. According to its year-end filings, Swalwell’s committee reported three payments for nearly $1,700 in Dubai at the five-star Burj Al Arab Hotel, considered the city’s “most iconic hotel” and one of the tallest hotels in the world. ERIC SWALWELL CALLS OUT SOFT-ON-CRIME PROSECUTORS FOR LETTING ‘DANGEROUS PEOPLE THREATEN OUR KIDS’ The Burj Al Arab Hotel boasts of being a “global icon of Arabian luxury.” It features an array of suites starting at around $1,300 per night and has a private beach, two outdoor and indoor swimming pools, a spa, eight restaurants and two bars, among other amenities. The Dubai expense, however, was not the only time his campaign spent internationally in 2023. The committee previously paid thousands of dollars for hotels and restaurants in London and Germany earlier in the year. Swalwell’s committee spent nearly $90,000 on travel expenses during the last three months of 2023 alone, including at various other hotels such as 1 Hotel San Francisco, Austin Proper Hotel and the Times Square Edition, the filings show. ERIC SWALWELL SPENT MORE CAMPAIGN CASH ON TRAVEL AND LUXURY ACCOMMODATIONS THAN NANCY PELOSI On top of the hotels, the travel expenses included nearly $47,000 in airfare, primarily with United and American Airlines. His committee also spent nearly $45,000 on private security and just under $7,000 on Sunny’s Executive Sedan, which offers its clients limousines and other luxury cars and SUVs. The Swalwell campaign’s disbursement report also showed the campaign dropping more than $1,200 on the “Washington Suite Life,” which promotes itself as the “premier luxury suite brokerage firm” in Washington, D.C. There is also a $5,364 payment to “Fan Experiences LLC,” a company that helps with tickets to sporting events and concerts. The company specializes in NCAA and NFL tickets. One listing in the report shows a $1,560 charge on Dec. 4 for “Fundraising Event Tickets” at Aramark at Lincoln Financial Field, which is where the Philadelphia Eagles play. According to the Eagles’ schedule, they played the San Francisco 49ers a day earlier. Swalwell has cheered on the 49ers in several social media posts in past years. The campaign report also shows thousands of dollars being spent on luxury restaurants in D.C.: $871 was spent on four transactions at Charlie Palmer’s; $895 was spent on two transactions at El Presidente; more than $600 was spent on three transactions at Four Seasons Bourbon Steakhouse; $717 was spent on two transactions at Joe’s Seafood, among other charges. Swalwell’s campaign also spent nearly $17,000 on Just Dreaming Yacht Charters, a San Francisco agency that offers “relaxing and luxurious” private yachts for up to 40 passengers, as a fundraising expense. Swalwell’s campaign has routinely disbursed large amounts on travel accommodations despite only having three paid staffers. Throughout the 2022 election cycle, his campaign even spent more on travel and luxury accommodations than then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. During that time, Swalwell’s committee spent $583,000 on travel while Pelosi’s spent $434,000. Swalwell’s campaign did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

GOP senator fumes over Biden admin providing veteran medical resources to illegal immigrants

President Biden is facing increased scrutiny over his administration providing health care administrative services to illegal migrants amid a worsening border crisis, potentially exacerbating long wait times for American veterans utilizing Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) facilities. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., touted his recently introduced No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act, which he introduced alongside Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., that would ban such action, one of the many problems he says are facing the country as a result of the border “disaster” taking place under Biden’s watch. “[Biden’s] decided, OK, we’ve got to feed all these 10 million people we’ve let come across the border, we’ve got to house them, and we’ve got to give them health care,” Tuberville said. “They’ve opened up care from the doctors in these [VA] community care systems. The lines now in the VA’s are getting longer. Our funds that are supposed to go to the veterans are going to these illegal immigrants that are coming across.” KAMALA HARRIS ‘READY TO SERVE’ AS DEMOCRATS SOUND ALARM ABOUT BIDEN’S AGE: REPORT Tuberville lamented that the VA was already not able to provide care for all 19 million veterans living across the country and that the community systems he mentioned had helped reduce wait times until the border crisis began to get worse. The arrangement between the VA’s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to process claims for migrant medical care is a longstanding one that actually predates the Biden administration and was outlined in a 2020 memo during former President Trump’s administration. When an illegal migrant under ICE detention requires health care, they are typically treated onsite by medical professionals. However, if specialist or emergency care is required, they may be taken to an independent private provider. TREASURY CONFIRMS TERMS LIKE ‘MAGA,’ TRUMP,’ KAMALA,’ ‘BIDEN’ USED IN PRIVATE BANK TRANSACTION SEARCHES In such cases, ICE contracts with the VA’s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) to process reimbursements to those providers. According to a report from July, ICE has hundreds of letters of understanding in which ICE’s Health Service Corps (IHSC) will reimburse providers at Medicare rates. That uses the VA-FSC’s Healthcare Claims Processing System, which a portal that allows providers to submit and view claims and access other resources. The VA told Fox News Digital in December that it has had an interagency agreement with the IHSC since 2002 to provide processing, but it also noted that the department neither provides health care nor pays for it. Under the agreement with IHSC, ICE pays fees for the claims processing services rendered and covers disbursements made to pay for claims. However, the crisis at the border, with record numbers of migrants crossing into the U.S. and needing medical care, has likely worsened what one former veterans’ affairs adviser told Fox News Digital in December was a “history of a backlog of medical claims which has resulted in veterans getting bills they shouldn’t be getting, and … having dissatisfied community care providers who are not getting paid in a timely manner.” BIDEN CONSIDERED RESIGNING VICE PRESIDENCY ‘IN PROTEST’ OVER OBAMA’S AFGHANISTAN POLICY: HUR REPORT Tuberville expressed hope that the bill could get some bipartisan support, considering the election year and that a number of Democrats up for reelection are running close races. “I think we’ve got a great opportunity to get this, maybe not to a vote, but at least where we discuss it on the floor, where the American people start to understand it,” he said. “An election year is a great year to try to get some kind of bipartisan help on any type of bill, especially when it comes to the veterans. That means so much to us here in our country.” Tuberville went on to blast the Biden administration’s selling of border wall materials purchased under the previous administration rather than using them as a barrier to deter border crossings, and he blasted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who narrowly survived an impeachment vote last week, as a “globalist” who has no interest in walls or borders. “If we don’t get a guy like President Trump in office, heaven help us. I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he added. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment. Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

Election Day snow storm hits as candidates make last minute pitch to replace disgraced Santos

Both candidates battling to replace former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. expressed optimism on the eve of an election that has garnered national attention. “I feel confident heading into the special election day because our campaign has resonated with voters,” Mazi Melesa Pilip, the Republican nominee in New York’s 3rd Congressional District Special Election, told Fox News Digital. “I feel really good. A lot of enthusiasm, very exciting, thousands of volunteers,” Pilip’s opponent, former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, told Fox News Digital. Suozzi and Pilip are coming down the stretch of a campaign with potential national implications, with Republicans looking to hold on to a key suburban New York City district amid a trend of Democratic gains in the suburbs in recent elections. NEW YORK SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATES CLASH OVER BORDER CRISIS, ABORTION: ‘YOU CREATED THIS ISSUE’ Both candidates have made their closing arguments, with Pilip continuing to send a message that she is the candidate of border security and law enforcement while Suozzi touted his experience as a bipartisan deal maker. “My campaign is focused on securing the border, cleaning up the sanctuary city mess, fixing the broken economy and keeping neighbors safe,” Pilip said. “Voters who want secure borders, safe communities and economic prosperity will vote for me on election day.” “I am the agent of change in this race because Washington is dysfunctional,” Suozzi said. “My campaign and whole career has always been about working across party lines to get things done… that’s what people want, that the change they’re looking for.” GOP CANDIDATE VYING FOR SANTOS HOUSE SEAT SLAMS DEMOCRATIC OPPONENT’S ‘DISRESPECTFUL’ JABS: ‘SHAME ON HIM’ The two candidates, echoed a similar sentiment during the lone debate of the campaign last week, which became heated as both shouted over each other in a back-and-forth battle. “She has no solutions whatsoever,” Suozzi said of his GOP rival during the debate, according to a report from Politico. “Just there’s a problem, there’s a problem, oh, by the way, it’s a really big problem. That’s not enough. That’s not how you govern.” Pilip, on the other hand, sought to paint her opponent as a party insider who would toe the line for Democrats. “You know the difference between me and you?” she said. “You are a talker. I am the person who will deliver.” Despite gains in suburban support in recent years, Democrats have struggled to loosen the tight GOP grip over this affluent Long Island district, which has seen voters express concerns over growing crime and increased illegal immigration. The immigration issue has taken on even more prominence over the last year as migrants from the southern border have been bussed to New York City and the surrounding area by the thousands. DEMOCRAT SUOZZI RUNNING FOR GEORGE SANTOS SEAT TAKES HEAT FOR 2019 POST ON ICE AMID NEW YORK’S MIGRANT CRISIS While Republicans have typically had an advantage with voters concerned about immigration and border security, Suozzi attacked Pilip’s opposition to a bipartisan Senate border bill that he claimed would “close the border.” “She says she’s concerned about the border, but she opposes the bipartisan solution that would actually close the border,” Suozzi said during the debate, according to Politico. The debate jabs come as some voters have already made their way to the polls for early voting, with that data seemingly backing polling data that called for a close race. According to early voting data release by the New York City Board of Elections Thursday, a total of 29,913 voters have already cast their ballots. Broken down by party affiliation, 12,767 of those voters were registered Democrats, while 10,434 were registered Republicans. Another 5,636 were unaffiliated with either party, while over 1,000 more were classified as other. As election day nears, a winter storm is bearing down on the Northeast and could hit hard right before voters head to the polls on Election Day. According to a report from the New York Times, the storm could bring up to a foot of snow to some areas in the region, with the storm starting Monday night ahead of the election slated for Tuesday. Meanwhile, the candidates made their closing arguments to voters on the eve of the election. “Securing the borders and keeping families safe are my top issues in the special election for Congress,” Pilip told Fox News Digital.  “All of the police unions have endorsed my campaign, and none have backed Suozzi because they know that I will work to keep families safe and they also know that Tom Suozzi is part of AOC’s Squad, which wants to defund the police.” “My opponent is just taking the extreme talking points of the Republican Party and refusing to negotiate,” Suozzi told Fox News Digital, citing Republicans who refused to negotiate on the bipartisan border deal. “I am really the agent of change here,” Suozzi added.

‘New beginning in political career’: Ex-Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan announces decision to join BJP after quitting Cong

First to go was former South Mumbai MP Milind Deora, followed by former MLA Baba Siddique.

Trump’s NATO comments trigger fierce media and European opposition: How serious is he?

Donald Trump has made some news that is reverberating around the world. It wasn’t him saying – after that incredible Super Bowl comeback by Kansas City – that he signed a law boosting earnings for musicians so Taylor Swift shouldn’t endorse Joe Biden (also “I like her boyfriend, Travis”). It wasn’t “we will throw off the sick political class that hates our country, we will rout the Fake News Media, we will Drain the Swamp.” It’s not that he told a South Carolina rally that “Biden’s thugs are still trying to put me in jail on fake charges for crimes that they openly admit that Crooked Joe did. He actually did these crimes” – while adding “I’m not looking for anything to happen to this guy.” WHY BIDEN’S ANGER AND DEFENSIVENESS INFLAMED ANXIETY ABOUT HIS MEMORY ISSUES No, it’s about NATO. Trump recalled a conversation with the president “of a big country,” who he says asked him if they didn’t increase their defense contribution to the North Atlantic alliance “and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?” Sharing his response at the rally, Trump claims he said: “You didn’t pay. You’re delinquent… No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.” The idea that Vladimir Putin could do “whatever the hell they want” set off alarm bells, not only among foreign policy officials in Europe but in much of the mainstream media here at home. One potential impact would be on Ukraine, with Trump having declined to endorse more military aid to that weakened country, which would allow Russia’s unprovoked invasion to succeed in either keeping its territorial gains along the eastern border or capturing the entire sovereign nation. And yet there is further evidence, as if any were needed, that the GOP is now Trump’s party. Some of the biggest Republican hawks, who staunchly supported NATO in the past, say they have no problem with the former president’s remarks. As the Washington Post points out, Lindsey Graham said when he ran for president in 2016 that Trump’s comments had made Putin a “very happy man.” On Sunday, the senator said he was “not worried” about Trump’s latest remarks “at all.” Tom Cotton, another leading hawk, said in 2016 that America must “make sure that we stand by NATO and we stand for countries like Ukraine and Georgia” who face “Russian aggression, and recognize Vladimir Putin as the adversary he is.” On Sunday, the senator said NATO countries not paying their full share are “already encouraging Russian aggression, and President Trump is simply ringing the warning bell.” UKRAINE AID PACKAGE WOULD BE USED TO IMPEACH TRUMP, SEN VANCE WARNS Marco Rubio said in 2018 that Trump went too far by “questioning the value of the alliance,” tweeting: “The end of #NATO would be a dream come true for #Putin.” On Sunday, the senator said he had “zero” concerns about Trump’s latest comments and suggested he didn’t mean them: “We’ve already been through this. “You would think people would’ve figured it out by now.” And here’s the kicker: Rubio and Graham pushed through a bill barring any president from withdrawing from NATO. I wonder who they might have had in mind? Look, I get it. This is how Trump negotiates. During his first term he regularly questioned the value of the NATO alliance as a way of getting some country to keep their commitment to spend 2% of their GDP on defense, with some success. It’s an approach he honed as a businessman when he would threaten to walk away from a deal unless certain conditions were met. But when Trump took office with little experience in foreign policy, he was talked out of any withdrawal by such retired generals as Jim Mattis and John Kelly. The New York Times reports this anecdote: “Soon after former President Donald J. Trump took office, his staff explained how NATO’s mutual defense obligations worked. “‘You mean, if Russia attacked Lithuania, we would go to war with Russia?’ he responded. ‘That’s crazy.’ Mr. Trump has never believed in the fundamental one-for-all-and-all-for-one concept of the Atlantic alliance.” But Trump has made clear that in a second term he would surround himself with loyalists who would not attempt to stop such decisions. Senior adviser Jason Miller says Biden has reversed Trump’s approach to NATO:  “Democrat and media pearl-clutchers seem to have forgotten that we had four years of peace and prosperity under President Trump, but Europe saw death and destruction under Obama-Biden and now more death and destruction under Biden.” FINLAND CENTER-RIGHT CANDIDATE ALEXANDER STUBB DECLARES PRESIDENTIAL VICTORY WITH NEARLY 52% OF VOTE Much of the media are leading the charge on NATO. CNN’s Christiane Amanpour called Trump’s latest comments “insane.” It’s also true that top European officials are being quoted on the record as criticizing Trump’s language. They would be irresponsible if they didn’t start plotting a Plan B. The crux of the argument is that the alliance created in the wake of World War II has worked well in deterring war and doesn’t need to be fixed. I happen to be in that camp – and the only time the mutual defense pact has been invoked was when our allies aided us after the Sept. 11 attacks.  Yet it’s also true that Trump is well practiced in making seemingly over-the-top pronouncements that give him more leverage. Footnote: Trump now says on Truth Social that “NO MONEY IN THE FORM OF FOREIGN AID SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ANY COUNTRY UNLESS IT IS DONE AS A LOAN, NOT JUST A GIVEAWAY.”

Delhi-Meerut RRTS work in rapid pace, likely to become operational this year: Route, stations and more

Delhi-Meerut RRTS will cover a stretch from Jangpura in Delhi to Meerut South. The stops in the 82 km corridor include Sarai Kale Khan, New Ashok Nagar, Anand Vihar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, Murad Nagar, Modi Nagar South, and Modi Nagar North.

‘There will be massacres’: Palestinians in Rafah speak of their fears

Rafah, Gaza Strip – About 1.5 million Palestinians, most of them displaced, are squeezed into the small city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. They have been expelled from their homes in other parts of Gaza during Israel’s assault on the besieged enclave, which has killed more than 28,000 people. Israel had designated Rafah a “safe zone”, but now, it is threatening a ground invasion, leaving more than a million people trapped there, terrified, with nowhere else to go. Rafah is the latest in a series of areas that Israel has said would be “safe zones” for civilians to shelter in from what is now four months of attacks, but Israel has attacked one after the other, forcing people out again and again. There have been international condemnations of Israel’s plan to invade Rafah but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is determined to continue, claiming that it would “finish Hamas”, which is the declared intent behind the assault on Gaza. Um el-Abed Fayyad and her family have been displaced four times so far [Sanad Agency/Al Jazeera] Senior Hamas leaders have said that such a move on Israel’s part would end any possibility of negotiations between the two sides. Against this backdrop, the fear and panic that has taken hold of people in Rafah continues to build. Al Jazeera spoke to several Palestinians who ended up in Rafah because of the war, some of whom had been displaced many times over. ‘Nowhere else to go’ Umm al-Abed Fayyad said she and her family have been displaced four times so far. “We are in a different area every month. The last place we were in was Khan Younis, and now we are in Rafah,” she explained. When asked how she feels about the possibility of an Israeli invasion, Umm al-Abed Fayyad said she has “nowhere else to go”. “The Israelis are everywhere. Where are we going to go?” she asked, noting that people all around them are “hungry and homeless”. Assaad Hassan is not well, and his only wish in life is to go home [Sanad Agency/Al Jazeera] Like others in the area, she says: “No matter how much they threaten, we will not move again, and God willing, we will be victorious. We will persevere and remain patient.” Asaad Hassan, another Palestinian displaced from Gaza City to Rafah, is unwell. His only wish, he says, is “to return to my home and for the aggression to stop”. “We have nowhere else to go but to the grave, if they carry out their threats to invade Rafah,” Hassan told Al Jazeera. Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip began on October 7. That day, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, which governs Gaza, launched attacks on southern Israel, killing 1,139 people and taking about 240 back into Gaza. Israel immediately responded with a bombardment campaign followed by a land invasion of northern Gaza. Umm Badr Abu Salme is certain massacres are about to happen in Rafah [Sanad Agency/Al Jazeera] At least 28,340 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, while 67,984 have been wounded in the past four months. The majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been forced out of their homes, and more than 60 percent of all infrastructure in the strip has been demolished. ‘There will be massacres’ Umm Badr Abu Salme said she moved with her family to Rafah based on orders from the Israeli army that it would be safer. “We came to Rafah, and now they are telling us to leave,” she told Al Jazeera. “There will be massacres. There is no other place to go. Rafah is our last refuge. This war must stop.” “Anyone who moves is killed,” Abu Salme said. “We have no safe place to go to.” Mohammed Madi, who is a medic, has been displaced several times since he was forced to leave his home in Gaza City. ‘I’ll die here before I leave,’ Mohammed Madi told Al Jazeera [Sanad Agency/Al Jazeera] “If the occupation follows through with its threats to invade Rafah, it will be a disaster,” Madi told Al Jazeera. “Still, I won’t leave Rafah because where will we go? The rest of Gaza is destroyed. I’ll die here before I leave,” he said. “We call on the Arab countries … to take a decision and end this genocidal war against Gaza,” Madi said. On December 29, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, arguing that it is carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people, a term many have used to describe Israel’s war on Gaza. Journalist Alaa Salameh, a resident of Rafah who has covered the war all over the Strip, said he will remain to report from the city despite the Israeli threats. “The Israeli army carried out countless massacres across the Gaza Strip. If it invades Rafah, it will do the same,” Salameh told Al Jazeera. Journalist Alaa Salameh is from Rafah but has moved up and down the Gaza Strip to cover the war [Sanad Agency/Al Jazeera] “The occupation does not follow international law. If they invade Rafah, there will be no safe place,” he continued. “There needs to be global pressure to prevent this potential crime from happening.” He noted that Israel has already killed thousands of Palestinians in air strikes on Rafah over the past few months. Haifaa Mohammad Abdelhamid Saleh was forced to leave her home in Gaza City and came to Rafah. “We left on October 14. We didn’t want to leave Gaza City or our homes, but the Israeli occupation told us that we would be safe if we did.” “We hope they don’t invade Rafah. If they do, there will be a humanitarian disaster – not just among refugees but also for the residents of the city,” Saleh said. “They burned down everything in Gaza. They want to take out their revenge on the resistance in Gaza.” Haifaa Mohammad fears a