Australia struck by major IT outage, hitting banks, media, telecoms
BREAKINGBREAKING, Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator says it is aware of ‘large-scale technical outage’. Australia has been hit by a major IT outage that has disrupted banks, supermarkets, telecoms, media outlets and airlines. Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator said on Friday that it was aware of a “large-scale technical outage affecting a number of companies and services across Australia this afternoon.” “Our current information is this outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by affected companies,” the agency said in a statement. “There is no information to suggest it is a cyber security incident. We continue to engage across key stakeholders.” IT security firm Crowdstrike said in a recorded phone message that it was aware of reports of Microsoft’s Windows operating system crashing. Photos posted on social media showed blank flight information screens at Sydney airport and inoperable self-service checkouts at supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles. Sydney airport said that flights were arriving and departing but that travelers should expect delays. “We have activated our contingency plans and deployed additional staff to our terminals,” it said in a post on X. Melbourne airport said that check-in procedures for some airlines had been affected. “Passengers flying with these airlines this afternoon are advised to allow a little extra time to check-in. Please check with your airline for flight updates,” it said in a post on X. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Network Ten also confirmed that their systems had been affected. #BREAKING: Widespread Microsoft outages have sent IT systems across Australia into a tailspin this afternoon, with banks, airlines, police, and other systems reported as being affected. (And humble news social team admins too, evidently. We’re doing our best here. More to come.) pic.twitter.com/IM0LZARu5v — 10 News First (@10NewsFirst) July 19, 2024 Police in the state of New South Wales said they were aware of the outage and anyone facing an emergency should call the emergency number 000. Police are aware of the current system outage. For emergency situations, please dial 000. — NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) July 19, 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
‘He’s got a gun’: The 60 minutes leading up to Trump assassination attempt
Details are beginning to emerge about how the 20-year-old would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to get close enough to Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday to shoot the former United States president in the ear. Evading Secret Service agents and local law enforcement officers, Crooks reached a rooftop about 140 metres (450ft) from where Trump was speaking on a stage and fired, grazing the Republican candidate running in the presidential election in November. Crooks was shot dead by the Secret Service immediately after firing, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing. In the days since the shooting, digital “bread crumbs” have been gathered via media outlets, photographers at the rally and personal cellphone videos depicting the events leading up to the shooting. Aerial view on Monday, July 15, 2024 of the red stage at the Butler Farm Show site where former President Donald Trump, speaking before a campaign rally, was wounded during an assassination attempt on Saturday, July 13, 2024 [Gene J Puskar/AP] This is the timeline of what is known so far: Sixty minutes before shooting: Crooks spotted by police One hour before Trump took to the stage to give his speech, Crooks was spotted by local police officers outside the event perimeter. They believed he was “acting suspiciously”, according to reports. The officers used a radio to alert the Secret Service and other police officers inside the event that a suspicious person had been seen outside the rally perimeter. In video footage, Crooks can be seen inside the site a short time later. In an exclusive video posted by WTAE-TV, a local ABC news affiliate in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Crooks is shown close to the building where he later fired from about an hour before the shooting. [embedded content] Forty minutes before shooting: Crooks spotted again with rangefinder Local police who were trying to keep track of Crooks lost him for roughly 20 minutes before spotting him again. According to The New York Times, he was carrying a rangefinder, a telescope-like device used to measure the distance from an observer to a target. It is thought that Crooks was using the rangefinder to measure the distance between the roof and the platform where Trump gave his rally speech. (Al Jazeera) Twenty minutes before shooting: Crooks spotted on top of roof Twenty minutes before the shooting, Crooks was spotted by Secret Service on the roof of a complex of interconnected corrugated-metal buildings used by an equipment company, AGR International. Secret Service agents are understood to have reported this to local police and asked them to investigate. According to The Washington Post, a local police officer was sent to identify the suspicious individual. Two minutes before shooting: Rally attendees spot Crooks Two minutes before the shooting, people attending the rally observed Crooks on the roof. They shouted to nearby police officers that someone was crawling along the roof. By then, a police officer had already been dispatched to investigate. [embedded content] Thirty seconds before shooting: Officer tries to reach Crooks Butler County Sheriff Michael T Slupe told the Post that an officer went to examine the roof after a request from local police to try to identify the suspicious individual who had by now been spotted several times. According to reports, the police officer who had been dispatched managed to lift himself up and grasp the edge of the roof of the building Crooks was on top of to get a look. Crooks then turned and pointed his AR-15-style, semiautomatic rifle at the officer. The officer quickly dropped back down to the ground to avoid being shot. The shooting and the seconds that followed Immediately after this, Crooks fired eight shots in Trump’s direction with one grazing Trump’s ear. Three spectators were also hit by bullets – one fatally. He was later named as Corey Comperatore. The two other spectators were critically injured. After Trump ducked down, Secret Service agents formed a protective barrier around him. A Secret Service sniper team then killed Crooks with a high-powered rifle from the roof of a building behind and off to the side of the stage that Trump was on. [embedded content] What happens next? On Wednesday, James Comer, the Republican chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee in the US House of Representatives, officially subpoenaed Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, to attend a hearing on Monday. This hearing will be the first in the congressional investigation into the attempted assassination. Several top Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson, have called for Cheatle to resign due to the security lapse on Saturday. This week, President Joe Biden also ordered an independent review of the security measures in place during the rally. In an interview with ABC News this week, Cheatle was asked about members of Congress calling for her to resign and stated: “We’re going to continue to be transparent and communicate with people.” She added: “Absolutely, I do plan to stay on.” Adblock test (Why?)
Israel keeps bombing Gaza schools. Why do people still shelter there?
At least eight United Nations-run schools serving as shelters to displaced Palestinians have been hit by Israeli attacks in the last 10 days. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) say 120 of their educational institutions have been hit since Israel began its war on Gaza on October 7. Families living in disused classrooms face fatigue, trauma and the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions of shelters stretched far beyond capacity. Despite the difficult conditions and the risk of bombardment, many seek out the relative safety of UN schools, some guided by the memory of past wars where these spaces provided a refuge, and since at least 2017, a couple were designed to double up as emergency shelters with additional power, sanitation and generator facilities. Palestinians stand on a balcony as others gather at the site of an Israeli air attack on a UN-run school in Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip [Ramadan Abed/Reuters] Protection “You hope that the UN affiliation might protect you,” said journalist Mohammed Mhawish, 25, who sheltered in a UN-run school in Gaza City with his wife, two-year-old child and his parents after an Israeli attack destroyed their home in December, trapping them under rubble for two hours until neighbours dug them free. “You need to remember, there are few residential compounds, or anywhere else in Gaza where you can shelter,” he said, recalling how his neighbours had taken the injured family in after rescuing them. It soon became clear the apartment was overcrowded. However, it was the further Israeli bombardment and land assault on their neighbourhood that forced his family to walk the one and a half hours to the nearest UN-run school, a 15-minute journey by car. “It’s a central point. There’s nowhere else where you can access aid or medicine,” he said, speaking from Cairo where his family now lives. “To be clear, there isn’t a lot. Everything is in short supply. You seem to spend all your time standing in line for less and less, but it’s something.” Mohammed added, that, “from a practical perspective, you can’t share what you don’t have. The more people in the school can also mean less food, water and medicine.” In winter, blankets and mattresses were in short supply and they were forced to drink from a contaminated water source, increasing the risk of getting sick. And there was always the threat of bombardment. “It was always there,” Mohammed recalled, “Nowhere was safe. People would simply sit and wait for it.” Still, for some, there was a sense of support. “For some people, it’s good to be around other people who’ve been through the same kind of trauma,” he said. “People share their experiences with each other and that can help.” But for Mohammad, it was unbearable to see how his son Rafik had been traumatised after the bombing they survived. “He stopped communicating. He wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t show any emotion, there was nothing,” Mohammed recalled. “He stopped remembering how to be a kid.” Then an Israeli evacuation order in January forced them to leave the school to find refuge in the garage of a destroyed apartment building. Nine in every 10 people displaced “People choose these schools because they believe sheltering under the UN flag, as international law states, should provide safety,” UNRWA’s senior communications officer Louise Wateridge told Al Jazeera from Gaza. “For civilians, the schools provide safety in times of war. Under the UN flag, these schools should be protected.” However, the agency faces several challenges in getting supplies to people, even as they shelter in schools. “Several factors continue to stand in our way to bring in humanitarian supplies into Gaza,” she said. “They include the siege, restrictions on movements and safety of humanitarian aid workers,” she explained, going on to stress the limited aid and equipment, much of it medical, allowed into Gaza by the Israeli military, as well as the unpredictability of life in a conflict zone where the schools’ occupants are regularly ordered to evacuate by the Israeli army and make their way to another area it designates a “safe zone”. “People continue to be forcibly displaced,” Wateridge continued. “It’s estimated that nine in every 10 people in Gaza are displaced. Many of them have been displaced up to 10 times since the war started. Protracted forced displacement makes it very difficult for us to verify data and figures.” In addition, Wateridge said, was “the breakdown of law and order as a result of nine months of horrific living conditions, war, hunger, siege and chaos,” she said. Humanitarian workers also report increasing instances of violence and gender-based violence within schools. “Concerns are growing about the risk of cholera spreading, further deteriorating inhumane living conditions,” Wateridge added. “WHO [The World Health Organization] has registered a growing number of adults and children suffering from waterborne diseases, such as hepatitis A, diarrheal illnesses, skin conditions, and others.” Psychological support Ahmad Swais, a psychologist with international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials, MSF, has witnessed how gatherings of large numbers of people carry “a lot of suffering and different experiences.” “This increases the negative psychological and social impact on the individuals,” he said speaking from Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. “It increases the severity of psychological symptoms for the individual and for the families who are gathering in one place whether in schools or other shelters.” The schools offer little respite or space for those who arrive traumatised or seriously injured from the fighting, Swais said. Many feel a sense of dehumanisation in the difficult conditions. Children are the worst affected psychologically by the repeated displacements and the war. “There [are a] large number of children in urgent need of a psychological support programme. It is crucial to create a suitable environment for the children and a safer place to live and to preserve their dignity and basic humanity,” he said. Still, despite the hardships, “These people living in shelters like UNRWA schools feel they are luckier than those living
What’s behind Pakistan’s move to ban Imran Khan’s PTI?
Islamabad, Pakistan – Just last month, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended an olive branch to the leadership of the country’s main opposition, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), during his speech in the National Assembly. “In 76 years since Pakistan’s independence, we’ve reached a point where we even hesitate to shake hands with one another,” Sharif said on June 26, lamenting the deep political divide in the country. Yet, less than a month later, on July 15, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced in a press conference in Islamabad that the government was considering banning the PTI, citing accusations of inciting violent protests last year and leaking classified information. The PTI is led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was in power from 2018 to 2022. “The government has decided to ban PTI after reviewing all available evidence. We will move a case to ban the party,” he stated. The announcement by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) government drew widespread condemnation not only from its rivals but also from its allies and human rights groups. Even the United States expressed its concerns. Leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the second-largest party in the ruling coalition, said they were not consulted before the announcement. “We were never taken on board, nor have they reached out to us since. We found out about the government’s decision through the information minister’s press conference,” PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla told Al Jazeera. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the country’s foremost rights body, called the decision an act of “political desperation”. “HRCP demands that this unconstitutional decision be withdrawn immediately. If implemented, it will only deepen polarisation and likely lead to political chaos and violence,” the commission stated. Facing a torrent of criticism, the PMLN leadership has backtracked — at least for now — saying the final decision would not be taken without consulting the ruling coalition’s allies. “There are multiple factors behind the proposal to ban PTI, but we will first present our reasons for banning to our allies. Only when there is consensus will we move forward with further actions,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Al Jazeera. But why did the government announce plans for a ban in the first place? Many observers believe the plan to ban the PTI, whose leader Imran Khan has been in jail since August last year, was conceived following a Supreme Court verdict last week. The verdict handed a major legal victory to the PTI by declaring it eligible for a share of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies. The court also recognised the PTI as a political party, affirming that not having an election symbol does not affect a party’s legal rights to field candidates. The reserved-seat controversy erupted following the country’s general elections in February this year. A month before the polls, the election commission revoked the party’s electoral symbol, a cricket bat, on charges of violating electoral laws. Days before the election, Khan, a former cricket captain and the party’s chief, was sentenced on multiple charges. Despite the setback, the PTI’s candidates, contesting independently, won the most seats (93), compared to the PMLN’s 75 and PPP’s 54. With the reserved seats added after the Supreme Court ruling, the PMLN-led government would no longer have a two-thirds majority in parliament, needed for constitutional amendments. “They [the government] just want to weaken their rival in any way possible, especially as PTI is getting relief from the courts,” Ahmed Ijaz, a political analyst, said. Pakistan has a history of banning political parties under both military dictatorships and civilian administrations. In fact, the last two instances of banning political parties occurred under the PTI government. Sindhi Nationalist party Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz-Aresar was declared banned in May 2020, as the PTI government claimed the party flag was used by a banned outfit that was accused of conducting violent attacks on security personnel. The second party to be banned by the PTI was the far-right religious outfit Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which was banned in May 2021 following protests in Punjab province that turned violent, killing several policemen. However, the party successfully appealed its ban and in October of the same year, the ban was lifted. Khan, who served as prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022, has since railed against the country’s powerful military establishment, accusing it of colluding with his political rivals to keep him out of power. The military, which has directly ruled Pakistan for more than three decades and retains significant influence in political decision-making, denies these charges. PTI faced a harsh crackdown following the May 9 violence last year, which erupted after Khan was detained for less than 48 hours. PTI supporters went on a rampage, destroying public properties and targeting military installations and monuments. Thousands of protesters were arrested, and more than 100 were tried in secretive military courts. Former PTI Secretary General Asad Umar, who left the party and retired from politics in November 2023, believes the decision to ban PTI will not come to fruition. “I don’t think even PMLN leaders are serious about banning the party,” he told Al Jazeera. “I think this is merely another tactic to buy time and build pressure.” Constitutional expert Faisal Fareed Chaudhry says that under Pakistan’s constitution, political parties can only be banned by the Supreme Court. “The government can file a reference, but the final verdict will be from the Supreme Court. It is important to remember that only last week the court declared PTI a political party,” he told Al Jazeera. Chaudhry further stated that accusations leading to a ban must include evidence of actions against state sovereignty or collusion with a foreign power. “I don’t think the government has substantial evidence to move this case. This is just to pressure the judiciary, which ruled against the government in the reserved seats matter. It appears the government has no plan, nor will this decision worry PTI,” he added. Ijaz, the political analyst, warned that the move to ban the PTI could
China halts nuclear arms talks with US over Taiwan support
Beijing said the US’s weapons sales to Taiwan has ‘compromised the political atmosphere’ for continued talks on nuclear non-proliferation. China has suspended negotiations on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control with the United States in protest against Washington’s arms sales to the self-ruled island of Taiwan. The US called Beijing’s decision on Wednesday “unfortunate”, while analysts said the move deals a potentially serious setback to global arms-control efforts. China and the US began nuclear weapons discussions in November as part of a bid to ease mistrust ahead of a summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden. Further dialogue had not been publicly announced since, with a White House official in January urging Beijing to respond “to some of our more substantive ideas on risk reduction”. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said the US’s arms sales to Taiwan, a territory that it claims, had “seriously compromised the political atmosphere for continuing the arms-control consultations”. “Consequently, the Chinese side has decided to hold off discussion with the US on a new round of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation,” Lin Jian, the spokesperson, told a regular news briefing in Beijing. “The responsibility fully lies with the US,” he said. Lin added that China was willing to maintain communication on international arms control, but said the US “must respect China’s core interests and create necessary conditions for dialogue and exchange”. The US switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but has remained Taiwan’s most important partner and biggest arms supplier, sparking repeated condemnations from China. Taiwan has protested for the past four years about stepped-up Chinese military activity near the island, including almost daily missions by Chinese warplanes and warships. Washington in June approved two military sales to Taiwan worth approximately $300m in total, mostly of spare and repair parts for the island’s F-16 fighter jets. Arms-race risks US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller slammed China’s move, saying Beijing has chosen to follow Russia’s lead by asserting that arms-control engagement cannot proceed while there are other challenges in the bilateral relationship. “We think this approach undermines strategic stability. It increases the risk of arms-race dynamics,” Miller told reporters. “Unfortunately, by suspending these consultations, China has chosen not to pursue efforts that would manage strategic risks and prevent costly arms races, but we, the United States, will remain open to developing and implementing concrete risk-reduction measures with China,” he said. The Biden administration advocates a policy of “compartmentalization”, in which nuclear arms control talks are segregated from other contentious Sino-US issues. The Chinese decision comes just over a month after the Biden administration said the US may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons to deter growing threats from Chinese and Russian arsenals. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group, told the Reuters news agency that the US, Russia and China are legally bound as signatories of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty – the cornerstone of global arms control – to “engage in talks to prevent the arms race”. “The only way they can accomplish that is through serious dialogue and Russia’s refusal to do so and China’s decision to do so are very serious setbacks,” he said. The US has a stockpile of about 3,700 nuclear warheads, of which roughly 1,419 strategic nuclear warheads were deployed. Russia has about 1,550 nuclear weapons deployed and according to the Federation of American Scientists, a stockpile of 4,489 nuclear warheads. Washington meanwhile estimates that China has 500 operational nuclear warheads and will probably have more than 1,000 by 2030. US officials have expressed frustration that Beijing has shown little interest in discussing steps to reduce nuclear weapons risks. But Beijing has long argued that the US already has a much larger arsenal. Adblock test (Why?)
At RNC, Trump’s VP pick JD Vance hails boss as fighter who cares
Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance has hailed the former president’s defiant response to his attempted assassination in a rousing speech to the Republican National Convention, casting his boss as a tough fighter who also cares deeply about the United States and its people. Accepting the nomination for vice president at the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, the Ohio senator largely eschewed aggressive rhetoric in favour of an upbeat message, pointing to Trump’s reaction in the moments after he was shot during a campaign rally on Saturday as proof of his leadership and love of country. “What did he call for us to do with our country? To fight, to fight for America. Even in his most perilous moment, we were on his mind,” Vance said. “His instinct was for us, for our country, to call us to something higher, to something greater, to once again be citizens who ask what our country needs from us.” Vance, who described Trump as an “idiot” and “reprehensible” in the leadup to the 2016 election, said the tycoon-turned-politician had endured “abuse, slander and persecution” to serve his country. “Now, consider what they said: They said he was a tyrant, they said he must be stopped at all costs,” Vance said. “But how did he respond? He called for national unity, for national calm, literally right after an assassin nearly took his life.” Seeking to portray a softer side to Trump, who is known for his acerbic rhetoric and vitriolic attacks against critics, Vance said that the Republican was also a devoted father and grandfather as well as a successful businessman and politician. “He’s the man who is feared by America’s adversaries but two nights ago – and I’ll share a moment – said goodnight to his two boys, told them he loved them and made sure to give each of them a kiss on the cheek,” Vance said. “And I will say, Don and Eric squirmed the same way my four-year-old does when his daddy tries to give him a kiss on the cheek.” Vance, who rose to national fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, repeatedly appealed to working-class voters in the key swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, recalling growing up in a “small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands and loved their God”. “I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from,” he said. The three “Rust Belt” states flipped from Trump to Biden in 2020 and are considered crucial to the outcome of the election in November. Vance said President Joe Biden had for half a century been a champion of “every single policy initiative to make America weaker and poorer”, including the free trade deal, NAFTA, and the war in Iraq. Once a harsh critic of Trump, Vance transformed into one of the former president’s staunchest defenders during his successful run for a Senate seat in Ohio in 2022. The former US marine, who at 39 is the first millennial vice presidential candidate, is widely seen as a potential future leader of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, which has reshaped the Republican Party along populist and nationalist lines. During his short political career, Vance has embraced much of Trump’s agenda, including calling for the deportation of undocumented migrants and expressing scepticism about military intervention and foreign alliances. Earlier on Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr, Donald Trump’s eldest son, also invoked the attempt on his father’s life, saying his response embodied the “true spirit of America”. “What was my father’s instinct as his life was on the line? Not to cower, not to surrender, but to show for all the world to see that the next American president has the heart of a lion,” he said. Other speakers on the third day of the convention included Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Florida House Representative Matt Gaetz and former Trump adviser, Peter Navarro, who was released from prison hours earlier after serving a four-month sentence for refusing to cooperate with a congressional probe into the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Invoking the familiar theme of political persecution, Navarro, without evidence, accused Biden and “his department of injustice” of putting him in prison. “I’ve got a very simple message for you: If they can come for me – and if they can come for Donald Trump – careful, they will come for you,” Navarro said. The evening also featured a number of speakers from outside politics, including relatives of US personnel killed during Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the parents of Omer Neutra, a US citizen who is believed to be held in Hamas captivity in Gaza. “He turned 22 on October 14, 2023, and instead of celebrating with us and with his friends, he spent his birthday as a hostage of Hamas terrorists,” Omer’s mother, Orna Neutra, told the crowd. “Imagine, over nine months, not knowing whether your son is alive, waking up every morning, praying that he, too, is waking up every morning, that he is strong and he is surviving.” As he did on the first two days of the convention, Trump, who will give his keynote speech on Thursday, received rapturous applause as he entered the Fiserv Forum as a version of the song, It’s A Man’s World, played. Trump has signalled unity will be a key theme of his address, saying his close brush with death inspired him to rewrite the speech he had originally planned. Adblock test (Why?)
Schumer, Pelosi ramp up pressure on Biden over 2024 election bid: Reports
Reports come as the US president announced contracting COVID-19 and went into self-isolation at his Delaware home. Top Democratic leaders in the United States including Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi have expressed concerns to President Joe Biden over his ability to win the presidential election in November, according to media reports. Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, and Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, told Biden, who is 81 years old, in separate meetings to drop out of the presidential race, the ABC News broadcaster reported on Wednesday. Schumer made the appeal during a “blunt conversation” with the president in Delaware on Saturday, “making the case it would be best if Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race”, ABC said, citing a knowledgeable source close to both men. Hakeem has also expressed similar views directly to Biden, suggesting he should drop out of the race, ABC said, citing a source familiar with the matter. Pelosi, the former House speaker, was meanwhile reported to have told Biden in a recent telephone call that polling indicates he cannot defeat his challenger, Donald Trump and could even destroy the Democrats’ chance of winning the House in November if he continues seeking a second term, according to the CNN broadcaster. The network cited four sources briefed on the call. But it said none of the sources indicated if Pelosi told Biden she believes the president should drop out, CNN said. The reports came as California Representative Adam Schiff became the highest-profile Democrat to publicly urge Biden to drop his re-election bid and new polling from AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed nearly two-thirds of Democrats nationwide want the president to step aside and nominate a different candidate. Schumer’s office responded to the report about his meeting with the president with a statement calling it “idle speculation” and said the Democratic Senate leader “conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday”. A Pelosi spokesperson told CNN that the former speaker has not spoken to Biden since Friday. White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden told Schumer, as well as Jeffries, that “he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win, and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families”. Biden, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, has repeatedly rejected calls from Democrats to drop out of the race after his halting performance in a debate last month against Trump. He told one interviewer recently that only the “Lord Almighty” could persuade him to quit the race. The president is currently self-isolating in Delaware, but will “continue to carry out his duties fully,” according to the White House. Biden has “mild symptoms” and was suffering from “general malaise” because of the infection, the White House said. Adblock test (Why?)
Italy watchdog investigates Armani, Dior after worker exploitation probes
Antitrust authority carried out searches on Tuesday at the companies of the Armani and Dior groups. Italy’s competition authority says it is investigating whether luxury brands Armani and Dior have misled consumers, following inquiries by prosecutors into worker exploitation at suppliers of the two groups. “In both cases, the companies may have issued untrue statements about their ethics and social responsibility, in particular with regard to working conditions and compliance with the law by their suppliers,” the competition watchdog said on Wednesday. It noted that the companies “emphasised craftsmanship and quality”. “However, in order to make certain articles and clothing accessories the companies allegedly used supplies from workshops and factories employing workers who would receive inadequate wages,” it added. “In addition, such workers would work hours in excess of the legal limits and in inadequate health and safety conditions, in contrast to the production excellence levels the companies pride themselves.” Prosecutors in Milan uncovered workshops on the outskirts of Italy’s fashion capital this year where underpaid workers, often immigrants who were in the country illegally, produced leather bags then sold to Armani and Dior for a tiny fraction of their retail price. They placed under investigation several Chinese-owned Italian suppliers of Dior and Armani, while appointing commissioners to oversee the units of the two groups that outsourced the handbag production to ensure they fix their supply chain problems. The logo of fashion house Giorgio Armani is seen outside a shop in Milan, Italy, April 8, 2024 [Claudia Greco/Reuters] Dior, which is controlled by French luxury giant LVMH , said it was cooperating with the Italian authorities and would strengthen its checks on suppliers. “No new order will be made in the future with these suppliers,” it said. “Despite regular audits, these two suppliers had evidently succeeded in hiding these practices,” it added. Armani Group expressed confidence in a “positive result following the [antitrust] investigation”, saying in a statement that its companies were fully committed to cooperating with the authorities and that it believed the allegations had no merit. The antitrust authority carried out searches on Tuesday at the companies of the Armani and Dior groups targeted by its investigation, it said. They were placed under investigation “for possible unlawful conduct in the promotion and sale of articles and clothing accessories, in breach of the [Italian] Consumer Code,” it said. Breaches of the consumer code in Italy incur fines ranging from 5,000 euros to 10 million euros. Adblock test (Why?)
Why does Israel step up its attacks when Gaza ceasefire talks advance?
Ninety people have been killed and 300 wounded in an Israeli attack on the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, a supposed safe zone in the southern Gaza Strip. At least eight United Nations-run schools have been hit by Israel’s military in 10 days. Israeli attacks on Gaza have intensified recently despite ongoing ceasefire talks in Doha and Cairo. Reports said the talks were showing signs of progress towards a truce and return of Israeli captives held in Gaza before the attacks on Saturday. Discussions involving Arab mediators and the United States began in May but have faced stiff opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas denied reports on Sunday that it had withdrawn from the talks over the attack on al-Mawasi, but Izzat al-Reshiq, a member of Hamas’s politburo, said Israel was trying to derail efforts to reach a ceasefire by intensifying attacks on the Gaza Strip. Israel has in fact repeatedly escalated the war when talks for ending it have been in advanced stages, according to analysts. They said this is a tactic Israel regularly deploys to apply pressure on its opponents and does so with impunity due to steadfast support from the United States. “Israel has always ratcheted up the intensity of attacks on their opponents in the lead-up to ceasefires,” said Tariq Kenney-Shawa, a policy fellow with Al Shabaka, a Palestinian policy network. “They see it as a means of increasing pressure on the other side, in this case Hamas, to accede to their demands and make further concessions.” Protests in Israel against Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government have been calling for the return of captives held in Gaza and for the prime minister’s resignation [Amir Levy/Getty Images] Netanyahu’s calculations When a ceasefire appeared close in late May, Israel rolled tanks into Rafah in southern Gaza, violating treaties with Egypt. And in November, when a temporary truce had been negotiated, Israel stepped up its attacks on northern Gaza, killing dozens of people and executing air raids in Khan Younis and Rafah just before the pause in the fighting was to come into effect. In Israel, protests against Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government have carried on for months with Israelis calling for the return of the captives and the premier’s resignation. Analysts have argued that Netanyahu is perpetuating the war, including through escalations for his own personal interests. “Netanyahu has repeatedly made it clear that he does not want the war to end,” Kenney-Shawa said, “both because Israel has not achieved its stated objectives, apart from the complete destruction of Gaza, and because of his political fears.” Critics and analysts said Netanyahu fears ending the war because it will lead to the collapse of his far-right government. “There are no indications that Netanyahu intends to stop the genocidal war anytime soon,” said Ihab Maharmeh, a researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha. “His primary concern seems to be maintaining his power and supporting the far-right current in his government.” Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s administration has sent billions of dollars in weapons shipments to Israel since October. This is in addition to the $3.3bn in annual aid from Washington. Apart from briefly withholding a shipment of 225kg (500lb) bombs over Israel’s Rafah offensive, Biden has continued to send Israel weapons despite the human toll of the war. A displaced Palestinian woman outside a UN school used as a shelter after an Israeli strike in Nuseirat on July 16, 2024 [Ramadan Abed/Reuters] Pattern of behaviour The escalation in hostilities running parallel to progress in ceasefire talks is not unique to the current crisis. Analysts said this is a pattern of behaviour that Israel has exhibited dating back decades. At certain points in history, Israel has also launched attacks or dumped munitions when ceasefires were imminent or already agreed upon. “The reason [for their intensification during ceasefire talks] is clear,” Mohsen Saleh of the al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations in Beirut said. “The Israeli entity is above the law and is not held accountable … due to its global alliances in the West and with the United States.” During the second Intifada in 2002, Palestinian officials and Western diplomats said Tanzim, a militia close to Fatah, the party that governs the occupied West Bank, was set to announce a unilateral ceasefire “before an Israeli warplane dropped a one-ton bomb … on a Hamas leader’s home in Gaza City”, The New York Times reported. In 2006, Human Rights Watch reported that Israel dumped 2.6 million to 4 million munitions in southern Lebanon in the final days of the 34-day war as a ceasefire with Hezbollah was imminent. This was part of a strategy to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, experts said, by making the land along Lebanon’s border with Israel uninhabitable. “[Israel’s military] basically emptied out all the reserves of submunitions, including some going back to the ’70s,” Nadim Houry – the executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative, who led Human Rights Watch’s Beirut office at the time – told Al Jazeera. “Everyone knew the war was over. They had actually agreed on the final date.” In 2012, Israel assassinated a Hamas leader just two days after Palestinian factions agreed to a truce. The truce came after a week of violence and at least six Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks. And during the 2014 war on Gaza, many displaced Palestinians were heading home after a ceasefire announcement when a firefight between Israeli soldiers and Hamas operatives broke out. Israel’s military invoked the Hannibal Directive, a protocol that aims to prevent Israeli captives from being taken alive into enemy territory — whatever the cost. A report by Human Rights Watch and Forensic Architecture found that at least 16 Palestinian civilians were killed. The joint report described Israel’s use of the directive as “likely unlawful and responsible for many civilian deaths”. Israeli officials have denied the existence of the Hannibal Directive although senior Israeli military sources have confirmed its use to Israeli media, including on October 7. A man examines the
Libya, Tunisia urge Europe to increase aid to help tackle migration crisis
North African countries seek assistance at Tripoli conference to help stem flow of refugees and migrants. Representatives from 28 African and European countries have met in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, to discuss ways to address irregular migration. In his opening remarks at the beginning of the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum on Wednesday, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said countries “have a moral responsibility” towards the people “who cross the desert and the sea” hoping to reach Europe. The North African country is a main departure point for refugees and migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan African countries, risking dangerous sea journeys to seek better lives. The United Nations has registered more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014, making it one of the most perilous migrant crossings in the world. In recent years, the European Union has increased efforts to reduce migration, including by providing equipment and financial support to the Libyan Coast Guard, a quasi-military organisation linked to militias accused of abuses and other crimes. As a result, many have found themselves stranded in Libya, often held in detention in conditions that rights groups describe as inhumane. The International Organization for Migration said in May that there were more than 706,000 migrants in Libya at the start of the year, but Libyan officials say the actual number exceeds two million. “Libya found itself caught in pressure between [Europe’s] turning back of migrants and [their] desire to migrate,” Dbeibah said, calling for development projects in departure countries. “We can only resolve the migration crisis at the root, in the countries of departure,” he said. Last week, authorities in Libya said that up to 80 percent of foreigners in the country are undocumented, and hosting people hoping to reach Europe has become “unacceptable”. “It’s time to resolve this problem,” Interior Minister Imad Trabelsi had said, because “Libya cannot continue to pay its price”. Libya, which is still struggling to recover from years of war and chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has been criticised over the treatment of migrants and refugees. Accusations from rights groups range from extortion to slavery, while smugglers and human traffickers have also taken advantage of the climate of instability in the country. “I’m looking around Libya here right now – it’s very, very dangerous,” Waly, a young Nigerian in Tripoli, told Al Jazeera. “Our people go to sea [and] want to cross the sea, so they want to stop us,” he said. “I’m thinking to move forward or to go back.” Reporting from the forum, Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina said “there’s a sense of fear” among migrants in Libya currently. Officials in the country, however, “want to bolster the relationship between Africa and the EU to mitigate the migration problem”, he added. Speaking to reporters, Dbeibah said Libya lacked the resources to address the issue and called on wealthier countries to “provide the funds” in order to stop the influx of migrants. Tunisian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani also called on European countries at the Tripoli conference to increase financial aid to his country and others to help tackle the flow of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. “More assistance must be provided to countries such as Tunisia. The aid provided is insufficient to address the problem,” he said. “There are towns that have absorbed migrants beyond their ability.” Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the conference that the situation could not be resolved without tackling the problem in the countries of origin. She also denounced “criminal organisations” who “decide who has the right or not to live in our countries”, adding that “illegal migration is the enemy of legal migration”. Adblock test (Why?)