Weather update: Delhi-NCR wakes up to light rainfall, check IMD prediction
IMD Scientist Naresh says that after a western disturbance brought on recent rainy weather in North India, another disturbance is expected to affect weather this weekend in the mountainous areas.
Shutdown in Ladakh as protesters march for statehood in freezing cold
Protestors raised slogans in support of their 4-point charter of demands, statehood for the UT, Constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh
Biden quickly wins South Carolina Democratic presidential primary
South Carolina is once again handing President Biden a ballot box victory. The Associated Press on Saturday projected that the president would win South Carolina’s 2024 Democratic presidential primary, with the news service making its call 23 minutes after the polls closed in the Palmetto State at 7 p.m. ET. The quick projection came as no surprise, as Biden was expected to trounce his two long-shot Democratic primary challengers, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Marianne Williamson, the best-selling author and spiritual adviser who’s making her second straight White House run. “In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and set us on the path to winning the Presidency,” Biden said in a statement soon after the race was called. BIDEN AIMS TO SOLIDIFY SUPPORT AMONG BLACK VOTERS AT THE BALLOT BOX “Now in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the Presidency again — and making Donald Trump a loser — again,” he added. South Carolina, where Black voters play an out-sized role in state Democratic politics, for the first time led off the party’s official presidential nominating calendar. Biden orchestrated an upending of the Democratic National Committee’s long-running nominating calendar to place the Palmetto State first. “If you ever doubt that the power to change America is in your hands, remember this. You proved it. You’re the reason I am president. That’s right. You’re the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president,” Biden emphasized last weekend as he spoke at a major South Carolina Democratic Party gathering. DNC CHAIR TELLS NIKKI HALEY SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATS ‘ARE NOT BAILING YOU OUT’ Four years ago, the then-former vice president was reeling, after a fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses and a fifth place showing in the New Hampshire primary. Biden rebounded with a distant second place finish to Sen. Bernie Sanders in Nevada’s caucuses, which was followed by a landslide victory in the South Carolina primary. Biden’s demolishing of the rest of the field of Democratic rivals — boosted in large part by the support of longtime Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina — rocketed Biden towards the party’s nomination and eventually the White House. National Democrats for years knocked both Iowa and New Hampshire — which led both national parties’ nominating calendars for half a century — as unrepresentative of the party as a whole because the states have largely Caucasian populations with few major urban areas. Nevada and South Carolina, which in recent cycles voted third and fourth on the calendar, are much more diverse than either Iowa or New Hampshire. While Republicans didn’t make major changes to their 2024 schedule, the DNC last year overwhelmingly approved a calendar proposed by Biden to move South Carolina to the lead position. The president and supporters of the new calendar argued that it would empower minority voters, upon whom Democrats have long relied but have at times taken for granted. HALEY SAYS ‘CLOSING THE GAP’ WITH TRUMP HER GOAL IN SOUTH CAROLINA GOP PRIMARY Plenty of political analysts also saw the move as a thank you from Biden to Clyburn and South Carolina for the role they played in his 2020 election. Spotlighting the significance of going first in the calendar, South Carolina Democratic Party chair Christale Spain told Fox News “it’s a huge deal.” While Iowa eventually complied with the DNC, New Hampshire adhered to a half-century-old state law that mandates their presidential primary goes first. New Hampshire held its primary for both parties on Jan. 23, and the Democratic contest was unsanctioned by the DNC, with no delegates at stake. Biden didn’t file to place his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot and didn’t campaign in the state. But he still won over 60% of the vote in the contest, thanks to a well-funded write-in effort by top Granite State Democrats. As ballots continued to be tablulated Saturday evening in South Carolina, Biden enjoyed a massive lead over his challengers, winning over 95% of the vote. Asked by Fox News’ James Levinson if it was time for Phillips and Williamson to suspend their campaigns, DNC chair Jaime Harrison said “campaigns have to make their own decisions. I don’t tell anybody when they should drop out.: But he added “it looks like Joe Biden’s going to be the nominee of the Democratic Party.” Biden was on the ballot in the Palmetto State, and South Carolina Democratic Party chair Christale Spain, pointing to the president’s dominance in a state where he’s had long ties, told Fox News on Friday that “this primary is contested, but it isn’t competitive.” Vice President Harris, on the eve of the primary, highlighted the significance of the state’s new leadoff position. “South Carolina, you are the first primary in the nation and President Biden and I are counting on you,” Harris said at a campaign event at South Carolina State University. “Are you ready to make your voices heard?” the vice president asked the crowd gathered Friday at the historically Black university. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Biden called into a South Carolina Democratic Party celebration after the race was called. “What happened,” he joked, before asking “what kind of turnout did you have.” “Thanks everybody. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. And you’re not rid of me. I’m coming back,” he said to cheers. The president enjoys the support of the DNC as he seeks a second term in the White House, and Harrison, back in his home state, told Fox News Digital on Saturday morning in Columbia, South Carolina that part of Biden’s mission in the primary was to shore up support from Black voters, a key Democratic Party constituency that boosted him four years ago. “This president wanted to send a signal to black folks, not only here in South Carolina, but
People detained at Russia protest calling for troops to return from Ukraine
About two dozen people, mostly journalists, were briefly detained at a protest in central Moscow, as wives and other relatives of Russian servicemen mobilised to fight in Ukraine called for their return, according to media reports. The soldiers’ relatives gathered on Saturday to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just outside the Kremlin walls. They marked 500 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2022 ordered a “partial mobilisation” of up to 300,000 reservists in Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The call-up was widely unpopular and wives and relatives of some of the reservists have campaigned for them to be discharged and replaced with contract soldiers. Saturday’s demonstration was organised by one such campaign group, The Way Home, that on Friday posted on Telegram calling on “wives, mothers, sisters and children” of reservists from across Russia to come to Moscow to “demonstrate [their] unity”. “We want our husbands back alive,” one of the protesters, who only gave her name as Antonina for fear of reprisals, is heard saying in a video published by independent Russian news outlet SOTAvision. Antonina insisted she does not want compensation from the Russian government if her husband is killed, and said she would instead “either go to a convent or follow him”. ‘Unauthorised’ event Saturday’s demonstration was the ninth and largest of similar weekly gatherings organised by The Way Home. One popular Russian Telegram news channel estimated that some 200 people turned out. The Reuters news agency reported that about 20 people were detained and then released at the protest, including a Reuters journalist who was covering the story and an AFP video journalist. According to OVD-Info, an independent website that monitors political arrests in Russia, police detained 27 people during the protest, mostly journalists. Police had detained the group of Russian and foreign reporters – all men – outside Red Square and took them to a police station. According to SOTA, most were later released, although a male protester was still in detention on Saturday evening. Additionally, a number of people were also detained at other locations in central Moscow, also protesting against the mobilisation, OVD-Info said. Allies of jailed Kremlin foe Alexey Navalny and Russian opposition politician Maksim Kats voiced support for the protest on Friday, while the Moscow prosecutor’s office early on Saturday warned Russians not to participate in “unauthorised mass events”. ‘A great tragedy’ Calls from wives and relatives to bring mobilised Russian reservists home have been ignored by the state-controlled media, and some pro-Kremlin politicians have sought to cast them as Western stooges. Protesters on Saturday angrily rejected the accusation. Maria Andreyeva, whose husband and brother are fighting in Ukraine, told SOTAvision that she saw the fighting in Ukraine as “a great tragedy that happened between two brotherly peoples”. “Almost every Russian has relatives in Ukraine, close and distant, so … this is a situation that has struck us to the core. After the second world war, it seemed to us that our grandfathers died so that there would never be another [conflict],” Andreyeva said. Saturday’s protest came weeks before the Russian presidential election, scheduled to take place in March, that Putin is all but assured to win. After Andreyeva and others laid flowers at the monument, they headed to Putin’s campaign headquarters to present their demands to him. Last month, another Russian presidential hopeful met with Andreyeva and other soldiers’ relatives campaigning for their return. Former local legislator Boris Nadezhdin, who openly opposes the war in Ukraine, criticised the Kremlin’s decision to keep them in the ranks as long as the fighting continues. “We want [the authorities] to treat people who are doing their duty in a decent way,” Nadezhdin said. Adblock test (Why?)
The Sikh kitchen that feeds Manila’s moneylenders
Manila, Philippines – “Don’t treat this like a full dinner. Only take small portions,” a mother warns her son as he reaches for a second helping of zarda – saffron-hued, sweetened rice topped with heaps of raisins and cashews – on the crowded buffet-style table at the Khalsa Diwan Temple in Manila. “We must not waste anything.” I overhear her while standing in line to sample the different varieties of barfi, a dense, milk-based fudge laden with sliced almonds – a popular sweet from the Indian subcontinent. The mother and son are among the 100-plus members of the Metro Manila Sikh community who have gathered here in late August to celebrate the Parkash Utsav of Guru Granth Sahib, a commemoration of the first opening ceremony of Sikhism’s central religious scripture. It is a busy day for the community kitchen, the langar. Dozens of volunteers snake their way through the crowd to serve rotis, fresh off the tandoor. Sitting cross-legged in rows across the main hall of the gurdwara, or Sikh place of worship, attendees dip roti into shahi paneer, a creamy curry with pockets of hard cheese, or happily spoon up the gajar ka halwa, a fragrant carrot pudding, neatly portioned off inside large steel trays. Surveying the room, I momentarily forget that I am in the Philippines. People gather to eat at the main dining hall at the temple [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera] The birth – and longevity – of moneylending in Manila Founded in 1929 by a small group of Punjabi migrants, Khalsa Diwan Temple is Manila’s oldest gurdwara. It marked the beginning of a budding Sikh community in the Philippines. Punjabi migrants, who form the bulk of the India diaspora population in the Philippines (nearly 82 percent), began to trickle into the country in the 1920s, explains Joefe Santarita, a professor at the Asian Center at the University of the Philippines Diliman. First, they tried their hand at farming, then moved to small-scale businesses. “From that experience”, Santarita says, “they realised Filipino families needed money.” A shift towards moneylending likely happened during World War II when there was an urgent need for capital among micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas, he adds. While financial inclusion in the Philippines has improved dramatically since then, 44 percent of Filipinos did not have access to a formal bank account as recently as 2021, according to the Philippine central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The Punjabi migrants tapped into a consistent demand from this unbanked community, offering loans for small-scale entrepreneurs or micro-enterprises – and not asking for documents or collateral. To compensate, loans are offered at a hefty 20 percent interest. Today, the moneylending community is interwoven throughout the Philippines, even if it largely sits on the fringes of the law. Moneylenders are now an integral part of the country’s informal economy, zipping through neighbourhoods on their motorbikes to solicit new clients and service existing ones. They operate on an informal basis without any permits, often cultivating new clients by offering various goods, such as small electrical appliances, on instalments. The returns are so lucrative, many Indian migrants, mostly from the state of Punjab, move to the Philippines to pursue moneylending. However, no business happens at the gurdwara, which functions as an anchor of the Sikh community. Here, the moneylenders leave their work behind to perform sewa (“selfless service” in Punjabi). One way is to help keep the huge community kitchen running as a place where anyone, regardless of religious denomination, can get a free meal. People enjoy food in the main dining hall at the gurdwara [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera] When I visit the gurdwara again on a February afternoon, the langar is quiet. A small group of Indian medical students sits cross-legged, dipping thick whole wheat chapati into a mashed masoor dal. The dal is simple but flavourful, spiced with heaps of onion, garlic and red chilli powder. The food at the gurdwara is different from back home in their state of Andhra Pradesh on India’s southeastern coast, but they are enjoying it. The quality, they say, keeps them coming back. “It’s also free,” Vikram Seetak, the temple’s head, reminds me when I tell him the students love his food. Seetak has been working in the gurdwara kitchen since 1999. Unlike the majority of his peers at the gurdwara, Seetak did not go into moneylending. After moving to Manila from a small town near Jalandhar in eastern Punjab, where he worked at his family’s mithai (sweets) shop, he took up a job at the nearby South Asian grocery store. After a few months, he became a full-time cook at Khalsa Diwan. The fresh produce used for meals is donated by the community and cooked by volunteers [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera] Seetak now heads a team of eight: a mix of Indian-origin and Filipino cooks, one of whom has worked with him for the past 20 years. He likes being in charge of the kitchen. “I have to do the mixing of the spices myself,” he tells me while straining a thick batter of gram flour and sugar syrup into a large deg, a thick aluminium pot. He is making badana, more commonly known as boondi – bite-sized, sharply sweetened, fluorescent orange balls – in preparation for the weekend’s festivities. In addition to catering a wedding at the gurdwara, Seetak and his team are gearing up to celebrate the birth, in 1630, of the seventh Sikh guru, Guru Har Rai. Vikram Seetak, who runs the kitchen at the temple, cooks the morning’s last batch of food [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera] By late afternoon, the gurdwara is teeming with volunteers preparing food. They chop tomatoes and onions and sort heaps of spinach to prepare a gurdwara staple: palak pakoray (spinach pakora), which is spinach leaves dipped in a gram flour batter, spiced with roasted coriander seeds and red chilli powder and then fried. There will also be vegetarian “mutton”. “It has to be a full vegetarian menu,” Seetak says in response to my quizzical look. “So
Qatar wins against Uzbekistan in heated Asian Cup quarterfinal
After a heated quarterfinal match, it came down to penalties. Qatar’s goalkeeper Barsham had three saves, pushing his team into the semifinals of the Asian Cup. Uzbekistan striker Odildzhon Hamrobekov says his team could not have given any more. “We came to the pitch to win but a penalty [shootout] is always won by the team who have more luck,” he told the official broadcast. “Everything was perfect at the Asian Cup – all the organisation – so I would like to thank them. “I would like to express my gratitude to all the support given by the fans.” There will be relief and joy in the Qatari camp after keeping their dream of a home title win alive. There will also be some celebrations before the team and its fans begin preparations for Wednesday’s semifinal against a strong Iran side at Al Thumama Stadium. Adblock test (Why?)
Washington state diverted $340M in federal COVID funds to immigrants, including via $1,000 checks
A new report is highlighting how federal COVID funds were used in Washington state to give $1,000 checks to illegal immigrants who were ineligible to receive federal economic impact payments during the pandemic due to their immigration status. The report, by the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), points to money administered by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which was created by the American Rescue Plan Act and was intended to help state and local governments with their response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington state received $4.4 billion in funding overall from that program. The report from the group, which calls for a smaller federal government, highlighted how $340 million in funding went to a program that sent $1,000 checks to illegal immigrants in the state. The funds, approved by the Washington state legislature in April 2021, provided “another round of funding for undocumented Washingtonians,” according to an impact report on the program said. MIGRANT CRISIS BROKE NEW RECORD IN DECEMBER WITH 302K ENCOUNTERS The Washington COVID-19 Immigrant Relief Fund was first set up in 2020 to grant checks to those ineligible for government assistance programs due to their immigration status. Treasury documents confirm that the state has since provided an extra $340 million in federal relief funds for the one-time cash grants, with 10% of the funding went to community-based organizations to administer the program. BIDEN CLAIMS ‘I’VE DONE ALL I CAN DO’ TO SECURE THE BORDER “The $340 million project is categorized as a ‘cash transfer’ expenditure under the SLFRF, approved for the State of Washington. This means the Biden Administration directly subsidized ‘undocumented’ immigration under the guise of COVID-19 pandemic relief,” the EPIC report said. The state said that it had previously invested $128 million of funding from the Trump-era CARES Act for 120,000 immigrants who did not qualify for economic relief, but the funding was not sufficient for the number of applications the program received. The fund has now ended, with the last payments going out in early 2023. State officials said the fund was an opportunity “to help people who may have been left out of other federal and state resources to address the economic impact of the pandemic.” The Economic Policy Innovation Center report highlights several other projects related to illegal immigration for which federal funds were used, including programs in Arizona for art, music and dance classes for migrants and expansion of shelters in Massachusetts. “The Senate is releasing a budget supplemental that includes a bipartisan deal on the border. However, the administration has been actively encouraging illegal immigration by using COVID money from the SLFRF to provide cash assistance, housing, legal aid, and other benefits to undocumented immigrants,” Paul Winfree, president and CEO of EPIC, told Fox News Digital. Winfree also stressed that there is still $120 billion in unspent money from the fund, and called on lawmakers to stop those funds. “Until Congress claws back this money, it will continue to serve as a magnet for illegal immigration,” he said. The report comes amid continued concern about the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. Congress is currently negotiating a supplemental funding bill, which would include aid to communities receiving migrants. But Republicans have sought to include restrictions on asylum and the administration’s use of parole.
Democrats hold vast fundraising advantage as Republicans face cash problems, disarray in crucial swing states
Democrats have started the election year off on a high note with a vast fundraising advantage over their Republican counterparts, who are facing a shortage of cash and party disarray in crucial swing states. According to year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) this week, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) holds nearly three times the cash on hand reported by the Republican National Committee (RNC), and brought in nearly three times as much fundraising in the final month of 2023. The RNC reported its worst fundraising year since 2013 — or since 1993 when adjusted for inflation — raising just $87.2 million in 2023, and starting 2024 with just over $8 million in cash on hand. TRUMP, HALEY BATTLE FOR BIG DONORS WHILE BIDEN CAMPAIGN SITS ON MASSIVE CASH RESERVE The DNC reported $120 million raised in 2023, and a record $21 million in cash on hand, marking a massive $13 million gap between the two committees. It also reported raising $14.7 million in December to the RNC’s $5.3 million. Although the RNC brought in more direct contributions than the DNC throughout the year, the latter enjoys a joint fundraising agreement with President Biden’s re-election campaign, as well as its other joint fundraising committees, and overall outpaced the RNC, which does not have a joint fundraising agreement, for much of that period. Republicans are also dealing with disarray in a number of their party organizations in multiple swing states that will be crucial to the party maintaining, or growing, its majority in the House, winning a majority in the Senate and retaking the White House. STACEY ABRAMS’ ONCE-POWERFUL VOTING RIGHTS GROUP FACES MASSIVE LAYOFFS AS IT STRUGGLES WITH MILLIONS IN DEBT Last week, the now-former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, Jeff DeWitt, suddenly resigned from the role amid allegations he unsuccessfully tried to bribe GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake not to launch a campaign. The state party also struggled financially throughout last year amid lower contribution levels and hundreds of thousands in legal costs related to the 2020 presidential election. In Michigan, newly elected state GOP chairman Pete Hoekstra and ousted former chairwoman Kristina Karamo have been battling over who is actually in control of the party, while a number of other state party officials are facing felony charges for their alleged role in a fake electors scheme attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state. In Nevada, Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald was indicted in a similar fake electors scheme, and in North Carolina, the state Republican Party’s FEC report shows that it burned through cash and is now $72,000 in debt. DISPUTED TRUMP-BACKED MICHIGAN GOP CHAIRMAN INVESTED THOUSANDS IN COMPANY DISPOSING ABORTED FETAL REMAINS Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on advertising by Republican presidential candidates in an effort to secure the party’s nomination, delaying the party an opportunity to coalesce around a single candidate and focus on the general election. “The Republican National Committee has become a financial dumpster fire at a time when they literally cannot afford it,” DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd told Fox News Digital. “With the 2024 field already having blown through millions attacking each other and GOP state parties descending into infighting and heading toward bankruptcy, Republican donors may want to consider just lighting their money on fire themselves rather than wasting time giving it to the RNC,” he added. Fox News Digital has reached out to the RNC for comment. A source familiar with the RNC’s fundraising told Fox News Digital that it raised more than any other Democrat or Republican committee in 2023 except for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) when accounting for direct fundraising and not including transfers from other joint fundraising groups. The source also said the RNC has already made significant financial investments in staff buildups across 15 battleground states, as well as in early voting and ballot-harvesting initiatives, but did not say whether that was directly related to the party’s low cash on hand. Fox News reported this week that the RNC raised $12 million in January, more than any month in 2023. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
At least 150,000 protest in Berlin against Germany’s far right
Mass demonstrations are taking place in Germany in the fourth week of protests against the far right. Approximately 150,000 people took to the streets of the capital Berlin on Saturday, police said. Similar protests were also taking place in cities including Dresden and Hanover, in a sign of growing opposition to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. On Saturday, Berlin police said people were still flocking to the Reichstag parliament building, where protesters gathered under the slogan “We are the Firewall” to protest against right-wing extremism and to show support for democracy. “Whether in Eisenach, Homburg or Berlin: in small and large cities across the country, many citizens are coming together to demonstrate against forgetting, against hatred and hate speech,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on the social media platform X. He said the protests were “a strong sign in favour of democracy and our constitution”. The AfD’s success has stoked concern among Germany’s mainstream parties, who fear it could sweep three state elections in eastern Germany in September, even though recent polls have shown a slight decline in AfD support. Earlier this week, a Forsa poll showed that backing for the AfD dropped below 20 percent for the first time since July, with voters citing nationwide demonstrations against the far right as the most important issue. According to the poll, the AfD remains in second place behind the main opposition conservatives on 32 percent, while Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats polled third at 15 percent. The mass protests began following a report last month that two senior AfD members had attended a meeting to discuss plans for the mass deportation of citizens of foreign origin. The AfD has denied that the proposal represented party policy. Adblock test (Why?)
How far will the US go in attacking Iran-linked targets in the Middle East?
Washington has carried out attacks against pro-Iran groups in Syria and Iraq. The United States says its attacked at least 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, using long-range bombers flown directly from the US. They were carried out in response to a drone attack on an army base in Jordan last weekend, that killed three American soldiers. Armed groups backed by Iran are targeting the US for its support for Israel’s war on Gaza. President Joe Biden says the US’s attacks are just the beginning of its retaliation. So how will Iran react? And could this lead to a wider regional conflict? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests Mohammad Marandi – Professor at the University of Tehran Renad Mansour – Senior research fellow and director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House Lawrence Korb – Senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and former US assistant secretary of defense Adblock test (Why?)