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Mamdani hints he feared customs hassle en route from Uganda vacation: ‘Sad reality’

Mamdani hints he feared customs hassle en route from Uganda vacation: ‘Sad reality’

During his first press conference since the mass shooting in New York City, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policies while saying he was prepared for problems with customs returning back to the U.S. from his African vacation. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday afternoon, two days after a deadly mass shooting killed four, including a police officer, Mamdani addressed questions about his wedding trip to his birthplace in Uganda. Mamdani said he “flew commercial economy both ways, and I did not have issues getting through customs, though I was prepared for the potential of those issues.” “That is a sad reality of living in our president’s United States,” Mamdani added. ZOHRAN MAMDANI DODGES QUESTIONS ON MASS SHOOTING AFTER RETURNING FROM AFRICA VACATION According to Mamdani, after returning to New York City from Uganda, he traveled directly to visit the family of 36-year-old NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who was slain in the mass shooting. He said he had called the family in advance to “ask if that was something that I could do.” “They welcomed me into their home. They refused to let me leave until I had breakfast with them,” he said, adding, “They are an embodiment of so much of what makes this city the one that we love.” Mamdani said he visited with the family for close to an hour. He highlighted how Islam and one of the other victims of the shooting, security guard Aland Etienne, were both immigrants. “It is not lost upon me that both Officer Islam and Aland Etienne were immigrants who came to the city in the hopes of a better life, immigrants whose own sacrifices made it possible for their own family members to have better lives,” he said. MAMDANI PAYS TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS OF NYC SHOOTING On Monday, a lone gunman, later identified as Shane Tamura, walked into a midtown Manhattan office building and opened fire, killing four people before turning the gun on himself.  The four people killed in the shooting were identified as NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, security guard Aland Etienne and Julia Hyman, an associate at Rudin Management. The motive for the shooting remains unclear, but the gunman reportedly had a grievance with the NFL, blaming football for his apparent issues with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a side effect from repeated hits to the head. Mamdani was on vacation for his wedding at the time of the shooting. After the tragedy, his previous criticisms of the NYPD and 2020 calls to defund the police came under renewed scrutiny. He also came under scrutiny for a more recent pledge to “disband” a special NYPD force known as the Strategic Response Group, which is responsible for riots, civil disorder and shootings. The press conference on Wednesday was the first opportunity for reporters to question Mamdani on these controversial statements. YANKEES HOLD MOMENT OF SILENCE BEFORE FIRST PITCH AGAINST RAYS IN HONOR OF FALLEN NYPD OFFICER In response to a question about a 2020 post mocking a police officer for having a breakdown in his car, Mamdani said, “To be very clear, as I have been over the course of this campaign. I am not defunding the police. I’m not running to defund the police.” He said the post “is out of step with the way in which I not only view police officers, the immense work that they do in this city, but also the seriousness with which we need to treat that work and the difficulties that come with that work.” During the press conference, Mamdani also addressed threats that he has received since becoming a mayoral candidate. “My life is sadly not the one that it was. There are far more threats,” he said. “And with that comes precautions that I wish I didn’t have to take. Though they are also precautions that I am immensely grateful for, especially in the example of the NYPD detail that I have here in New York City.”

Trump’s approval rating in US drops to lowest level of his second term

Trump’s approval rating in US drops to lowest level of his second term

Polls find that Americans have mixed feelings about Trump’s handling of the US economy and immigration. United States President Donald Trump‘s approval rating has dropped to 40 percent, the lowest level of his second term in office, as Americans remain concerned about his handling of the economy and immigration. The three-day poll by Reuters news agency and Ipsos, which closed on Monday, surveyed 1,023 US adults nationwide and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Trump had a 41% approval rating in Reuters/Ipsos’ most recent prior poll, conducted on July 15 and 16. This latest poll showed a nation deeply polarised over Trump, with 83% of Republicans and just 3% of Democrats approving of his performance. About one-third of independents approved. Trump campaigned on promises to supercharge the US economy and crack down on immigration, and the poll found that Americans gave him mixed marks on both those areas, where his administration is using aggressive tactics. The recent slippage on immigration is particularly significant because the issue was a major strength for Trump in the 2024 election. Earlier in his second term, it was also one of the few areas where he was outperforming his overall approval. In March, about half of US adults approved of his handling of immigration. Other recent polls also show growing discontent with Trump’s approach on immigration. A poll conducted by US media outlet CNN and SSRS found that 55 percent of US adults say the president has gone too far when it comes to deporting undocumented immigrants who are living in the US, an increase of 10 percentage points since February. Advertisement “I understand wanting to get rid of illegal immigrants, but the way that’s being done is very aggressive,” said Donovan Baldwin, 18, of Asheboro, North Carolina, who did not vote in the 2024 election. “And that’s why people are protesting, because it comes off as aggression. It’s not right.” Some 38 percent of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, up from 35 percent approval in the mid-July Reuters poll. The CNN poll, however, found that ratings of Trump’s handling of the economy, which were more positive during his first term, have been persistently negative in his second term. It found that few Americans think Trump’s policies have benefitted them so far. There are concerns over the negative effect that Trump’s tariffs may have at home. Even if he is not a fan of everything Trump has done so far, Brian Nichols, 58, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is giving him the benefit of the doubt. Nichols, who voted for Trump in 2024, likes what he is seeing from the president overall, though he has his concerns both on style and substance, particularly Trump’s social media presence and his on-again, off-again tariffs. “We put him into office for a reason, and we should be trusting that he’s doing the job for the best of America,” Nichols said. Adblock test (Why?)

Turkiye’s glaciers fall victim to climate change

Turkiye’s glaciers fall victim to climate change

Kemal Ozdemir looked up at the bare peaks of Mount Cilo in Turkiye’s southeast: “There were glaciers 10 years ago,” he recalled under a cloudless sky. A mountain guide for 15 years, Ozdemir then turned towards the torrent carrying dozens of blocks of ice below a slope covered with grass and rocks – a sign of glacier loss being exacerbated by global warming. “You can see that there are quite a few pieces of glacier in the water right now … the reason why the waterfalls flow so lushly actually shows us how fast the ice is melting,” he said. The glaciers of Mount Cilo, which rises to 4,135 metres (13,566 feet) in the province of Hakkari on the Iraqi border, are the second largest in the country behind those of Mount Ararat (5,137 metres / 16,854 feet) – 250 kilometres (155 miles) further north. As global temperatures rise amid human-caused climate change, new sections of the mountains that were once capped in ice are melting rapidly year after year. Turkiye, which is experiencing punishing heatwaves, drought and wildlfires, even registered a record temperature of 50.5 degrees Celsius (122.9 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday in Silopi, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Hakkari. “The melting process is faster than we expected. According to our research, in the last 40 years, we have lost almost 50 percent of this continuous snow and ice cover in this place,” said Onur Satir, a professor at Yuzuncu Yil University and specialist in geographical information systems in the eastern province of Van. Advertisement “Some places melt faster than others, so actually it’s showing us which places must be protected, but we have no opportunity to cover the whole ice area,” Satir said. In recent years, several glaciers in the Alps have been covered with white tarpaulins in an attempt to delay their demise. According to the United Nations, glaciers in several regions of the world will not survive the 21st century, threatening the water supply of hundreds of millions of people. The surrounding landscape is a delight for walkers, many of whom have flocked to the Hakkari mountains since the guns fell silent in recent years in the region, where fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have long challenged the Turkish state. The ongoing peace process with the PKK, which has begun a disarmament process, suggests that tourism will accelerate in the area, which became a national park in 2020. But melting ice has made certain areas dangerous. In July 2023, two walkers were killed when they were swept away by a block that broke off from a glacier. “People should not walk on the ice,” Ozdemir warned, voicing concerns about the safety of walkers and the preservation of glaciers. “This region is 40–50 kilometres (25–31 miles) away from the city, but there was no road in the past. Now, with the construction of the road, more vehicles are coming here and the increase in the number of people coming here actually accelerates the melting a little bit,” said the 38-year-old guide. A UN report on desertification worldwide estimates that 88 percent of Turkey’s territory is at risk: rainfall is expected to decrease by 30 percent by the end of the century, while temperatures are expected to rise by 5 to 6C (9 to 10.8F) compared with averages recorded between 1961 and 1990. Adblock test (Why?)