Dozens of Palestinians blindfolded and detained in occupied West Bank raid
NewsFeed Dozens of Palestinian men have been filmed blindfolded and lined up single file as Israeli forces detained them during a raid on a refugee camp in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank. Published On 4 Jan 20244 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Iraq blames US-led coalition for deadly drone strike in Baghdad
Senior commander of Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces group is among those killed. Iraq’s government has accused the United States-led international coalition forces of carrying out a drone strike targeting an Iran-aligned paramilitary group in the capital, Baghdad, that killed and wounded several people. The strike on Thursday targeted the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi. Hajj Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi (Abu Taqwa), a senior PMF commander, was among those killed. The total number of casualties was not immediately clear, but the Reuters news agency reported that four PMF members were killed and six wounded. “The Iraqi armed forces hold the forces of the international coalition responsible for this attack,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office said in a statement, calling it a “dangerous escalation and aggression”. Iraq’s Al-Nujaba TV, considered close to the PMF, published footage showing the impact of the strike on the group’s headquarters. The attack came amid heightened regional tensions since war broke out between US ally Israel and Hamas, triggered by the Palestinian armed group’s October 7 attack in southern Israel. There was no immediate comment from US officials, whose forces in Iraq and neighbouring Syria have faced a surge in attacks since the start of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. There was an intense security presence around the site of the strike, Baghdad’s Palestine Street, according to The Associated Press news agency, which said its journalists were blocked from accessing the area. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, a group of Iranian-backed armed organisations – calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq – has carried out more than 100 attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria. The group has said the attacks are in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the war against Hamas that has killed more than 22,000 people in Gaza, and that they aim to push US forces out of Iraq. Last month, the US carried out retaliatory air raids in Iraq after a drone attack by Iran-aligned fighters left three wounded, including one US service member in critical condition. The strike also comes two days after the killing of Saleh al-Arouri – a deputy leader of Hamas, an ally of Iran – in a drone strike in Beirut, raising fears of further escalation and destabilisation in the region. Adblock test (Why?)
Congress renames Bharat Nyay Yatra, shares final route map
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra of over 6,713 km will be covered in buses and on foot.
AIRPORTELs Revolutionizes Travel With Seamless Delivery and Storage Solutions
It is transforming the way travellers manage their luggage, offering unparalleled convenience and peace of mind.
United Nations moves to stop Alabama from carrying out America’s first nitrogen gas execution
The United Nations Human Rights Council is pushing to stop Alabama from following through with America’s first nitrogen gas execution later in January. Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to be executed on January 25, but U.N. experts argue there has been no evidence to suggest that nitrogen gas would not “result in a painful and humiliating death.” While the U.N. experts offered no evidence that nitrogen hypoxia would result in suffering, they argue that nitrogen gas executions may violate the U.N. Convention against Torture and other U.N. agreements to which the U.S. is a party. The experts – Morris Tidball-Binz, Alice Jill Edwards, Tlaeng Mofokeng and Margaret Satterthwaite – went on to express their disappointment in the the U.S. for continuing the practice of capital punishment. WASHINGTON GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL ELIMINATING DEATH PENALTY IN STATE Alabama’s safety protocols for nitrogen executions acknowledge potential danger to those in the room administering the gas. As a result, spiritual advisers are not allowed in the room at the time unless they sign a waiver beforehand. IDAHO’S MOVE TO RESURRECT FIRING SQUAD ‘MAKES SENSE’ AS ‘QUICKEST, SUREST’ DEATH PENALTY OPTION, EXPERT SAYS Rev. Jeffrey Hood, a spiritual adviser to death row inmates, filed a lawsuit arguing that requiring such a waiver violates a Supreme Court ruling protecting the right of an inmate to have a spiritual adviser present during his execution, according to CBS News. Smith was convicted of the 1988 murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennett in Jefferson County, Alabama. He was convicted 11-1 by a jury, who recommended a sentence of life without parole. The sentencing judge overruled that, however, and sentenced him to death. IDAHO MURDERS: STATE SENATE PASSES BILL TO REINSTATE EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD Alabama first attempted to execute Smith on November 17, 2022 via lethal injection. However, administrators in the room failed to find a suitable vein for the fatal drug despite four hours of trying.
Georgia Republican senator joins race for congressional seat opened by Rep. Drew Ferguson’s retirement
A Georgia state senator is joining the race for an open congressional seat. Mike Dugan, a Carrollton Republican, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday to start raising campaign contributions for the 3rd Congressional District. The seat is opening up because four-term incumbent Drew Ferguson announced in December that he would not seek reelection. The solidly Republican district hugs the Georgia-Alabama state line as far south as Columbus and includes some areas south of Atlanta as far east as Barnesville and Griffin. GEORGIA GOP REP. DREW FERGUSON TO DEPART CONGRESS IN 2024, OPTING OUT OF REELECTION BID Dugan was first elected to the state Senate in 2012 and said he would resign Thursday, which would trigger a special election for his seat. “It is time to get back to a government that works for the people, and I would be honored to be the voice that represents Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District,” Dugan said in a statement. Dugan rose to Senate majority leader in 2019, but lost a 2022 bid to become president pro tem, the top post elected by the members. That left his influence downgraded, and Dugan expressed unhappiness with how Carroll County was split in the special redistricting session that ended in December. Dugan is a former Army Ranger and paratrooper who retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2008 after more than 20 years of service. More recently he has worked as a construction contractor. GEORGIA PLAINTIFFS CRITICIZE PROPOSED VOTING DISTRICT MAPS AS ‘MOCKERY’ OF FEDERAL LAW The Republican field in the race already includes state Rep. David Jenkins of Grantville, a farmer and retired Army helicopter pilot; Jim Bennett, a party activist from Carroll County who has criticized Ferguson as insufficiently conservative; and Michael Corbin, who previously ran for Congress in Gwinnett County. Other Republicans who could run include state Sen. Matt Brass of Newnan; former state Rep. Philip Singleton of Sharpsburg; state Sen. Randy Robertson of Cataula; Brian Jack, a former White House political director for President Donald Trump and former aide to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy; and Chris West, who lost a bid for southwest Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District in 2022 to longtime Democratic incumbent Sanford Bishop. West recently moved from Thomasville to Newnan. Democrat Rodney Moore is also running. The congressional primary is May 21, and a runoff for the Republican nomination would be June 18 if needed. The general election is Nov. 5.
North Carolina goes all in with DNC in having Biden alone on primary ballot, flouting Democrat challengers
North Carolina’s election board unanimously decided Tuesday to accept the state Democratic Party’s request to have President Biden as the lone Democrat presidential candidate. The five-member State Board of Elections voted unanimously to stick with the candidate lists provided by the state’s Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties last month. The board had given initial approval to those names at its Dec. 19 meeting, when members also agreed to reconvene Tuesday to consider additional names before ballots are printed. Board officials said that five additional people had unsuccessfully asked to join the presidential primaries. They included U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, author Marianne Williamson and media personality Cenk Uygur for the Democrats, and Jill Stein for the Green Party. A board attorney said Tuesday it was unclear which primary another person, Luis Lavin, had asked to run in. Williamson reacted on X, writing, “North Carolina goes all in with the DNC. No Democrat but Biden gets to be on the ballot.” “We are disappointed that the North Carolina Board of Elections abdicated their authority to protect North Carolina voters from the North Carolina Democratic State Party’s attempt to circumvent democracy,” Williamson’s campaign said in a statement. “It is not the job of the State Board of Elections to protect incumbents. It is their job to oversee elections in a non-partisan manner.” NORTH CAROLINA PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CANDIDATES HAVE BEEN FINALIZED; A TRUMP CHALLENGE IS ON APPEAL “By the standards of inclusion set in North Carolina state statutes, Marianne Williamson is a FEC-certified Presidential candidate, has received extensive national news media coverage, is a member of the Democratic Party, and meets all the requirements for the Office of President as set forth in the United States Constitution,” her campaign argued. “Their decision to protect political parties instead of voters is a failure to protect democracy itself. The North Carolina State Board of Elections has disgraced themselves and disgraced the voters of North Carolina. The crisis of Democracy in our nation is institutional.” Phillips also slammed the decision, writing, “Never imagined the Florida and North Carolina Democratic Parties would use Iran’s tactics to guarantee the outcome of an election.” “North Carolina law requires parties to list candidates for President who are ‘generally advocated & recognized in the news media,’ which I am,” Phillips wrote. “That’s why 15 made the ballot in 2020: Biden, Sanders, Bloomberg, Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Steyer, Gabbard, Yang, Booker, Bennet, Patrick, Williamson, Delaney, & Castro.” “This year the Democratic Party decided an election wasn’t desirable – so they shafted voters by placing only Biden’s name on the ballot,” he added. “The destruction of democracy by the people entrusted with protecting it.” State law directs parties to provide lists of candidates whose bids for the nation’s highest office are “generally advocated and recognized in the news media throughout the United States or in North Carolina.” The law gives the board discretion to add more candidates whom a majority believes meet the same standard. But none of the board’s members proposed doing so. RFK JR WARNS AGAINST TRUMP BALLOT NIXES, SAYS DEMOCRATS RISK TURNING HIM TO ‘MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURE’ Board members who spoke Tuesday said it was appropriate to defer to the wishes of political parties holding primaries that are ultimately designed to choose delegates to their respective national conventions. “I’m mindful that these are private political parties and that they have associational rights,” Stacy “Four” Eggers, one of two Republicans on the board, told the Associated Press. The other three members are registered Democrats. State Democratic Party spokesperson Tommy Mattocks defended the party’s decision last month to offer only Biden as a candidate, saying in a text that “to get on the ballot, you need to have donors in the state and be actively campaigning in the state.” Phillips and Williamson “haven’t been here this cycle,” Mattocks told the AP. As for Stein, the North Carolina Green Party wrote the board last month saying that it would not participate in the March primary, but instead offer a general election candidate after the party’s nominating convention. The board did include former President Trump on the Republican ballot, despite efforts in some states to disqualify him. In addition to Trump, the state GOP presented Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson and Vivek Ramaswamy as candidates on its presidential ballot. By a 4-1 vote two weeks ago, the board rejected a challenge to Trump’s candidacy by a Stokes County voter who argued the U.S. Constitution disqualifies Trump because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Brian Martin’s challenge said Trump violated a section of the 14th Amendment that bars from office anyone who once took an oath to uphold the Constitution but then “engaged” in “insurrection or rebellion” against it. The amendment has been cited in rulings in Colorado and Maine that have banned Trump from those states’ ballots. In North Carolina, the board’s majority had determined that it lacked the authority in state law to consider such a primary challenge. Martin, a retired lawyer who served in Republican U.S. presidential administrations, last week appealed the board decision to Wake County Superior Court, where he asked that swift action be taken. Absentee ballots can start being mailed to voters who requeest them in less than three weeks. The Libertarian Party will have 10 names for its North Carolina presidential primary ballots. Voters in the presidential primaries can also cast a “No Preference” vote instead of one for a candidate. The No Labels Party, which like the Green Party is an official political party in North Carolina, can also offer a presidential ticket to place on general election ballots. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Delhi Police arrests wanted Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist
He was wanted in multiple terrorism-related cases in Jammu and Kashmir.
GOP Senate groups throws weight behind Trump in Colorado ballot dispute
A Republican Senate group weighed in to support former President Trump in his effort to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove his name from the state’s primary ballot on Wednesday. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., argued that the court overstepped its authority in its December ruling. Trump himself has appealed the issue to the Supreme Court of the United States. “Even if the Colorado Supreme Court were correct that President Trump cannot take office on Inauguration Day, that court had no basis to hold that he cannot run for office,” the committee said in its court filing. Last month, the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, overturned a lower court ruling that allowed Trump to appear on the ballot as a presidential candidate. In their opinion, the justices on the state’s high court wrote that Trump “incited and encouraged” the use of violence to prevent the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, when many of his followers stormed the U.S. Capitol. GUNMAN ARRESTED AFTER BREACHING COLORADO SUPREME COURT, HOLDING GUARD AT GUNPOINT: COPS In a Wednesday filing, Trump’s lawyers urged the high court to reverse the Colorado Supreme Court ruling and “return the right to vote for their candidate of choice to the voters.” POLL SHOWS BIDEN HITTING RECORD LOW APPROVALS, FALLING BEHIND AGAINST TRUMP IN 2024 MATCHUP The words from Trump’s legal team echoed arguments from Justice Carlos Samour, one of three Democrat-appointed justices on the Colorado court who dissented from the decision. DEMOCRATS DROP ‘BIDENOMICS’ AS SOME VOTERS COMPLAIN IT’S ‘TONE-DEAF’: REPORT “The decision to bar former President Donald J. Trump — by all accounts the current leading Republican presidential candidate (and reportedly the current leading overall presidential candidate) — from Colorado’s presidential primary ballot flies in the face of the due process doctrine,” Samour wrote at the time. “Even if we are convinced that a candidate committed horrible acts in the past — dare I say, engaged in insurrection — there must be procedural due process before we can declare that individual disqualified from holding public office,” he added. Trump has also received an endorsement from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., though Daines is the only member of GOP Senate leadership to endorse the former president. Fox News’ Louis Casiano, Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report
Kentucky Gov. Beshear urges for unity between parties to elevate education, economy
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear reached across the partisan divide Wednesday night to urge a unified effort with Republican lawmakers to uplift education, health care and the economy, saying Kentucky has an opportunity to assert itself as an “economic and a moral leader.” Beshear, who raised his national profile by winning reelection last year in the GOP-leaning state, renewed his pitch for higher salaries for teachers, state-backed pre-K education for every 4-year-old, increased funding for roads and bridges and efforts to meet the state’s health needs. Touting a record pace of economic development, the governor said Kentucky has an unprecedented opportunity to build a top 10 economy offering the security of good-paying jobs. Noting that he’s now term-limited, the governor said it’s a chance to set politics aside. It’s an acknowledgement that he needs support from GOP legislative supermajorities to pass his priorities. KENTUCKY GOV. ANDY BESHEAR BEGINS SECOND TERM WITH OATH RENEWAL: ‘WE MUST FACE THIS CHALLENGE’ “This is our chance to push away the division,” Beshear said in his annual State of the Commonwealth speech. “To prove that we can govern without name-calling or scapegoating. To do it without anger, without fear and without hatred. That we can not only talk about our collective faith, we can live it.” Beshear had frequent policy clashes with Republican lawmakers during his first term, and prospects are uncertain for there to be less friction in the legislative session that just convened this week. The governor called for a renewal of the unity that prevailed in the response to deadly tornadoes that hit western Kentucky in late 2021, followed by massive flooding that swamped eastern parts of the state in the summer of 2022. “How we dealt with these historic challenges wasn’t red or blue,” Beshear said. “It wasn’t ‘R’ or ‘D.’ It was just us, Team Kentucky, where everybody matters.” DEMOCRAT GOV. ANDY BESHEAR SAYS KENTUCKY GOVERNOR RACE ‘HAS NOTHING TO DO’ WITH BIDEN AS VOTERS HEAD TO POLLS The governor focused on his immediate priorities in the current legislative session but also took a longer view at the start of his second term. “Improving life right here at home is the most important focus we can have,” Beshear said. “And these next four years are our chance — Kentucky’s chance — to be the difference, to be both an economic and a moral leader in this country.” The governor outlined his wish list for the next two-year state budget in a televised speech last month. He reiterated those priorities Wednesday night, calling for an 11% pay raise for teachers and all other public school employees and the funding for pre-K. Beshear called it unacceptable that Kentucky ranks 44th nationally in average starting teacher pay and 40th in average teacher pay. The governor has previously said the pay increase would lift Kentucky to the middle of the pack nationally in both categories. In pitching his pre-K initiative, he said: “We are rightfully concerned about learning loss. So we should address it where it begins.” Beshear’s pre-K proposal made no headway with lawmakers in the past, and top Republicans signaled again Wednesday that such resistance appears unchanged. “I don’t think there’s much appetite in our chamber for it,” House Speaker David Osborne said. The governor also made another pitch for child care assistance, with funding to help cushion child care programs from the loss of pandemic-era federal subsidies, and called for another massive infusion of funding for transportation and clean water projects. Republican Senate President Robert Stivers echoed Osborne’s remarks about the governor’s pre-K plan but said in a post-speech interview on Kentucky Educational Television that there’s a “strong desire to look at how we create day care for the working-class people.” Passing the next budget will be the top priority for lawmakers in this year’s 60-day legislative session. DEMOCRAT ANDY BESHEAR WINS GOVERNOR RACE IN DEEP-RED KENTUCKY, A MAJOR BLOW TO REPUBLICAN HOPES AHEAD OF 2024 Osborne said Wednesday that the House budget plan will likely be unveiled in the next week or two. “I expect it to be built largely like we’ve built the last several budgets, which is to find places that we feel like that we can invest people’s money wisely but also remain very fiscally responsible,” he said. The governor said a commitment to meet the mental and physical health needs of Kentuckians is an investment not only to improve lives but to bolster the state’s workforce. “We need all of our people healthy enough to be a part of this future and the prosperity it will bring,” he said. “So let’s continue to expand access to quality health care for all of our people.” To bolster law enforcement, Beshear called for increased pay for Kentucky State Police troopers and officers. He proposed an increase in the training stipend for local law enforcement officers and requested $35 million to fund grants for body armor.