India election: Why did Modi’s BJP lose in Uttar Pradesh, its fortress?
New Delhi, India – It was April 1, All Fools’ Day. India’s elections were yet to start, but Delhi-based columnists were already calling the verdict on the biggest prize of all: Uttar Pradesh (UP), the northern state that is the country’s largest and that sends the largest chunk of legislators to the nation’s parliament. The state’s 80 members of parliament in a house of 543 often make or break the national government. In 2014 and 2019, they made the Bharatiya Janata Party’s fortunes, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party winning 71 and 62 seats in those two elections. The columnists were predicting a repeat, a done deal for the BJP. But Hakim Sahib, a full-time mendicant and a part-time politician from Meerut, a western Uttar Pradesh (UP) city, wasn’t amused. “BJP will not win more than 40 seats in UP as there is a strong undercurrent against the party,” he told this writer. Two months later, when the results were declared on June 4 after seven stages of a staggered poll, Sahib, it turns out, had been prescient, unlike the vast majority of pollsters who had predicted a sweep for the BJP in UP and India. As the election campaign unfolded across the state of more than 200 million people, the signs were there: Modi and the BJP were clearly a powerful force, but there was a palpable, seething rage too, among many voters — including traditional supporters — over high unemployment and inflation. A clever strategy by the opposition INDIA alliance turned a BJP campaign slogan seeking 400 seats in parliament into a narrative against the governing party: The opposition claimed that the BJP could take away constitutional rights of historically disadvantaged communities such as Dalits — who sit at the bottom of India’s caste hierarchy — with such a large mandate. All of that fructified into the outcome that Sahib had predicted: The BJP ended up with just 33 seats, with its allies winning three more. The regional Samajwadi Party, a member of the Congress Party-led INDIA alliance, won 37 seats. The Congress itself won six more. That result, along with losses in the western state of Maharashtra, has forced the BJP to rely on alliance partners to form a government, short of a national majority on its own. The rumblings that led to this moment weren’t restricted to traditional BJP critics. Some ordinary voters who led to its rise felt let down too. Fall in Ayodhya, drop in Varanasi In 1992, the BJP led a campaign that culminated in the demolition of the 16th-century Babri mosque in the UP temple town of Ayodhya. On December 6 that year, when images of the shrine being pulled down stunned the rest of India and shocked the world, Mohan was at the site, a part of the mob that smashed the mosque into rubble. In January this year, Modi consecrated a grand Ram temple at the same spot: The Hindu deity Ram, according to ancient scriptures, was born in Ayodhya. It was a moment that — like the 1992 demolition — was screened across the world, and that emerged as the launchpad of Modi’s 2024 re-election campaign. But when this writer spoke to Mohan — who requested that his last name not be used — in April, he was clear that he had given up on the BJP. He has an unemployed son, who was initially tempted to join the Modi government’s scheme to send Indian workers to Israel as labourers amid the war on Gaza. The son eventually turned down that option. “This time the BJP will not come to power in the parliament elections. I will call you on June 4 to confirm this,” Mohan declared. He was partially wrong — the BJP is poised to form the next government, with its allies. Yet in Faizabad, the constituency that includes the Ram temple, the BJP lost. And Mohan’s comments were mirrored in sentiments that voters shared even in Modi’s own parliamentary constituency of Varanasi. His imprimatur is visible in the infrastructure development work throughout the city: a highway to the airport; cleaned up banks of the Ganges; widened roads to Varanasi’s biggest attraction, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. But these changes have robbed the city of its identity, said, Vishambhar Mishra, a professor at the city’s Indian Institute of Technology and the head of the Sankat Mochan Trust that campaigns for cleaning up the Ganges. “Varanasi used to be the city of lanes and bylanes. People could start from wherever and negotiate the lanes to reach the ghats to take a dip in the Ganges,” he said. Meanwhile, the Ganges remains dirty, despite multiple promises from the government to clean it up — a contradiction he routinely highlights in posts on social media platform X. On the Ganges, boatman Bhanu Chaudhary, who took this writer for a ride, said: “There is a lot of anger in people as there are no jobs.” Chaudhary is a graduate but is forced to row boats for visitors to the city because he has no other work. That anger showed on June 4. Modi won the seat, but with his margin dramatically slashed, from 480,000 votes in 2019 to 152,000 this time. Many of the constituencies near Varanasi, which the BJP had hoped to win riding on Modi’s presence in the city, went to the INDIA alliance. People beat drums in front of a vehicle carrying a large garlanded portrait of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian constitution, as they celebrate his birth anniversary in Mumbai, India, April 14, 2024. Ambedkar, a Dalit, and a prominent Indian freedom fighter, outlawed discrimination based on caste. Analysts believed the Dalit move shifted away from the BJP in the just-concluded election [Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo] Losing the Dalit vote But the biggest reason for voters shifting away from the BJP may have been the party’s own statements, say observers. The slogan insisting that the BJP-led alliance would win 400 seats spooked many Dalits,
Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriend details his crack cocaine addiction at trial
Jurors were told Biden would spend days in hotel rooms getting high in the months leading up to his 2018 gun purchase. Hunter Biden’s former girlfriend has testified about his near-constant crack cocaine use at luxury hotels at the criminal trial where prosecutors are trying to prove that US President Joe Biden’s son lied about his addiction to illegally buy a gun. Zoe Kestan told jurors that Hunter Biden would prepare crack at the ritzy Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles or spend days in hotel rooms getting high in the months leading up to his 2018 gun purchase. “He would want to smoke as soon as he woke up,” Kestan told the court on Wednesday, as she described meetings with a “scary” drug dealer and hunting for instructions on the internet to cook powder cocaine into crack. Kestan testified at the first trial of a US president’s child, where prosecutors are trying to prove that Hunter Biden knowingly lied about his drug use on screening paperwork when he bought a revolver in October 2018. Kathleen Buhle, who divorced Hunter Biden in 2017, also testified for about 20 minutes to describe how she first discovered he was using drugs. Prosecutors also said they plan to call Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter’s late brother Beau. Hunter Biden, 54, has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges accusing him of failing to disclose his use of illegal drugs when he bought the gun and of illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days. Biden has publicly acknowledged his past drug use, including in his memoir. He told the judge in the case at a 2023 hearing that he had been clean since 2019. Defence says no intent to deceive The defence lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has countered that Hunter Biden was not using drugs at the time of the purchase and did not intend to deceive. Lowell pressed an FBI agent to acknowledge that prosecutors had evidence of Hunter’s addiction only before or after rather than during the time he owned the gun. The trial follows another historic first – last week’s criminal conviction of Donald Trump, the first US president to be found guilty of a felony. Trump is the Republican challenger to Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the November 5 election. Kestan also described a message from Hunter Biden in which he said a month after the October 2018 gun purchase that he might get sober but “I’ll always be an addict”. The defence has worked to show that prosecutors have not presented much evidence that Hunter Biden was using drugs at the time he bought the gun. Under questioning from Lowell, Kestan said she did not see him in the weeks before and after the gun purchase. She also acknowledged that when he described himself as always being an addict, he was using the language associated with people who are recovering from substance abuse. Hunter Biden is charged with lying about his use of illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra .38-calibre revolver and illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days in October 2018. The trial comes after a plea deal that would have settled the case fell apart in July last year. If convicted on all charges in the Delaware case, Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison, though defendants generally receive shorter sentences, according to the US Department of Justice. Adblock test (Why?)
Thousands of Israelis march through Jerusalem, some attacking Palestinians
Islamic authorities say more than 1,100 Israelis encroached on Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during provocative annual parade. Thousands of Israelis have joined a march through occupied East Jerusalem, with some attacking Palestinians and shouting racist slogans, as part of an annual demonstration marking Israel’s occupation of the city. Footage shared by local journalists on Wednesday showed young men and teenagers chanting, “Death to the Arabs” and “May your village burn” at the so-called “Flag March” on Wednesday. The parade has come amid heightened tensions as Israel pushes on with its war on Gaza, which has killed more than 36,500 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian authorities. The demonstrators danced and waved Israeli flags throughout the city. The Jerusalem Waqf, the Islamic authority that oversees the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, said more than 1,100 Israelis encroached on the site, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as Temple Mount. The AFP news agency published photos of Israeli demonstrators assaulting a Palestinian journalist in the Old City. Several Israeli outlets reported that Haaretz reporter Nir Hasson was also attacked. Reporting from the Jordanian capital Amman, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said this year’s march appears to be more violent than in previous years. “Almost as soon as the ultranationalist people arrived into occupied East Jerusalem, they started attacking Palestinians. Young kids were attacking older Palestinians – we’ve seen pictures of that,” Khan said. “They were attacking shops; they were running into the shops. The Israeli police simply lost control. In fact, what they did was they asked the Palestinians to simply shutter their shops because they couldn’t control these people.” According to Israeli media reports, Israel deployed 3,000 police officers to the march and urged demonstrators to “avoid any physical or verbal violence”. AFP footage showed demonstrators holding signs rebuking the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top United Nations court, which has ordered Israel to halt its assault in Rafah. “The ICJ is corrupt, working with Hamas,” one sign read. Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended the march and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “be strong” in an implicit criticism of a proposal for a truce deal to halt the war on Gaza. “The Damascus Gate is ours. The Temple Mount is ours. And God willing complete victory is ours,” Ben-Gvir said, according to Times of Israel, referring to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – the third-holiest site in Islam. Israel captured East Jerusalem during the 1967 war and subsequently annexed it in 1980 in a move not recognised by the international community. Al-Haram al-Sharif has remained under the management of the Jordan-appointed Waqf and only Muslims are allowed to pray at the compound. However, Israel’s security forces often allow Israelis to raid the site. In past years, Israeli forces have also attacked worshippers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israelis wave flags as they participate in the annual Jerusalem Day march at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, June 5, 2024 [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters] The second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising that saw years of protests and violent attacks, started in 2000 after Israeli politician Ariel Sharon made a visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hamas also cited Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa as one of the main reasons for its “Al-Aqsa Floods” attack against Israel on October 7, when fighters from Hamas led an attack that killed at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and seized about 250 others as captives. On Wednesday, Hamas decried the Israeli parade in Jerusalem, calling it a “blatant aggression” against Arabs and Muslims. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the parade “re-asserts that Jerusalem is the core of the conflict”. “Our people will not rest until the occupation is gone and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said in a statement. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Godfathers of climate chaos’: UN chief calls for ban on fossil fuel ads
Antonio Guterres urges a 30 percent cut in global fossil fuel production and use by 2030 amid record high temperatures. Each of the past 12 months ranked as the warmest on record in year-on-year comparisons, the European Union’s climate change monitoring service has said, as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a global ban on fossil fuel advertising. The average global temperature for the 12-month period to the end of May was 1.63 degrees Celsius (2.9 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average – making it the warmest such period since record-keeping began in 1940, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Wednesday. This 12-month average does not mean that the world has yet surpassed the 1.5 C (2.7 F) global warming threshold, which describes a temperature average over decades, beyond which scientists warn of more extreme and irreversible impacts. In a separate report, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there is now an 80 percent chance that at least one of the next five years will mark the first calendar year with an average temperature that temporarily exceeds 1.5C above pre-industrial levels – up from a 66 percent chance last year. Speaking about the findings, Guterres emphasised how quickly the world was heading in the wrong direction and away from stabilising its climate. “In 2015, the chance of such a breach was near zero,” Guterres said in a speech marking World Environment Day on June 5. With time running out to reverse course, Guterres urged a 30 percent cut in global fossil fuel production and use by 2030. “We need an exit ramp off the highway to climate hell,” he said, adding: “The battle for 1.5 degrees will be won or lost in the 2020s.” ‘Godfathers of climate chaos’ He also took aim at fossil fuel companies. “The godfathers of climate chaos – the fossil fuel industry – rake in record profits and feast off trillions in taxpayer-funded subsidies,” he said. Drawing a comparison with many governments’ restrictions on advertising for harmful substances like tobacco, he said, “I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies, and I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil fuel advertising.” Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels – the main cause of climate change – hit a record high last year despite global agreements designed to curb their release and a rapid expansion in renewable energy. Coal, oil and gas still provide more than three-quarters of the world’s energy, with global oil demand remaining strong. A plant sprouts in the cracked ground of La Vinuela Reservoir during a severe drought in La Vinuela, near Malaga, southern Spain, on August 8, 2022 [File: Jon Nazca/Reuters] The latest climate data show that the world is “way off track” from its goal of limiting warming to 1.5 C – the key target of the world’s 2015 Paris Agreement, WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett said. “We must urgently do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions, or we will pay an increasingly heavy price in terms of trillions of dollars in economic costs, millions of lives affected by more extreme weather, and extensive damage to the environment and biodiversity,” Barrett said. Barrett described the cooling effect of La Nina weather conditions, which are expected to take hold later this year, as “a mere blip in the upward curve” in the heat felt across the globe. “We all need to know that we need to reverse this curve and we need to do it urgently,” she said. While last year registered as the warmest calendar year on record at 1.45 C (2.61 F) above pre-industrial temperatures, at least one of the next five years is likely to be even warmer than 2023, the WMO data show. Scientists at Copernicus said there were some surprising developments – such as the steep loss of Antarctic sea ice in recent months – but that the overall climate data were in line with projections of how rising greenhouse gas emissions would heat the planet. “We have not seen anything like this in the last several thousand years,” said Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo. Adblock test (Why?)
Slovak PM Robert Fico says could return to work ‘in several weeks’
In first public speech since surviving assassination attempt, Fico says he feels ‘no hatred’ towards his attacker. Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has posted a speech online, his first appearance since he was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt three weeks ago. In a prerecorded speech on his Facebook page on Wednesday, ahead of the European Parliament election, Fico said the attack caused serious damage to his health and that “it will be a small miracle if I return to work in several weeks”. Fico has been recovering from multiple wounds after being shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters on May 15 in the town of Handlova, about 140km (87 miles) northeast of the capital, Bratislava. The attacker, identified by prosecutors as 71-year-old Juraj C, was arrested on the spot and charged with attempted premeditated murder. Seemingly in good shape as he spoke, Fico pledged to be back at work at the end of June or beginning of July, and said he felt “no hatred” towards his attacker. “I forgive him,” he said, adding he planned no legal action against the assailant. Supporters bring flowers and gifts as they gather near the FD Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was hospitalised following an assassination attempt, in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia [File: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters] Still, he slammed the opposition and others, saying: “After all, it’s evident that he only was a messenger of evil and political hatred.” Fico suggested that his views of Russia’s war on Ukraine and other issues that sharply differ from the European mainstream had made him a victim. Fico was released from hospital in the central city of Banska Bystrica last week, and taken to his home in Bratislava, where he continues to recuperate. A video of the attack shows him approach people gathered at barricades and reach out to shake hands as a man steps forward, extends his arm and fires five rounds before being tackled and arrested. Fico immediately underwent a five-hour surgery, followed by another two-hour surgery two days later. The incident has highlighted the deep polarisation of politics in the central European country of 5.4 million people. Opposition parties have led protests against Fico’s government as it shifts policy by stopping military aid to Ukraine, ending a special prosecutor’s office despite rule of law concerns, and revamping the state television and radio broadcaster. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 831
As the war enters its 831st day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Fighting At least eight people were injured, including a one-month-old baby, after a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s central city of Dnipro. Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, said the United States’s move to allow Kyiv to use Western weapons to strike inside Russia was a “vital decision” that would weaken Russia in its border areas and enable Ukraine to better defend its territory in the northeastern region of Kharkiv. Ukraine held a day of remembrance for the hundreds of children killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska urged the country’s allies to supply the military with more weapons to fend off Russian attacks and prevent such deaths. The United Nations says more than 600 children have been confirmed dead in the war, but the real figure is considerably higher. Politics and diplomacy A senior official in the US Department of Treasury said the US and its Group of Seven (G7) partners were making progress on finding ways to provide more urgently-needed funds to Ukraine through the profits earned on $300bn in frozen Russian assets. The White House said the issue would be discussed at the G7 summit in Italy on June 13-14. The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said he would hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Friday and “discuss the situation on the ground” in Ukraine. Zelenskyy will also address France’s National Assembly. Ukraine marked the Day of Commemoration for Children, who died following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, [Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP] A Russian military court in the northern Karelia region bordering Finland sentenced a man to 14 years in prison for state treason, saying he had set fire to railway infrastructure on Ukrainian orders, according to the Interfax news agency. The man was not named. A Russian court extended the pre-trial detention of Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist in Prague with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, by two months in a move her husband called unjust. The decision was handed down on Friday. Kurmasheva has been in custody in the Tatarstan region since October 18. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the planned peace conference for Ukraine taking place in Switzerland from June 15-16 was “absurd”. Switzerland has said more than 80 delegations have confirmed their attendance. Russia, which insists talks must start based on its occupation of about 18 percent of Ukraine, has not been invited. China has said it will not attend. Weapons Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said any French military instructors training soldiers in Ukraine would be an “absolutely legitimate target” for Russian attacks. France does not officially have military personnel assisting or training Ukrainian forces in Ukraine at the moment, but Kyiv said last week it was “in talks” with Paris on the issue. Ukraine’s anticorruption agency said the former director of Ukrspetsexport, Ukraine’s state-run defence firm, faces trial after arranging to buy aeroplane parts at a price inflated seven-fold while in charge of arms imports in 2016. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) did not name the man. Adblock test (Why?)
Sunak and Starmer clash in heated first debate of UK general election
The two men clash over tax, health and the cost of living in fractious debate that failed to land any knockout blows. The leaders of the United Kingdom’s two top political parties have faced off in their first live television debate of the election campaign, attacking each other over issues from tax to immigration and the National Health Service (NHS). Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, took the floor on Tuesday night in the northwestern town of Salford with a month to go before the July 4 election. Sunak, whose party is behind by some 20 percentage points in the opinion polls, took a combative approach, lashing out at Labour over tax, noting that inflation had eased to 2 percent and that he had a plan to boost the sluggish economy. Starmer pointed to the austerity of the Conservatives’ early years in government and the chaos of the more recent past, which saw the removal of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson amid money and ethics scandals, and the brief but devastating 49-day tenure of Liz Truss, whose tax-cutting plans sent mortgages soaring. Sunak became party leader and prime minister in October 2022. The Labour leader said the election was a choice between more “chaos and division” with the Conservatives and “turning the page and rebuilding with Labour”. Both men were told repeatedly not to speak over each other and asked to lower their voices as they clashed over issues ranging from immigration and education to health, but neither outlined any new plans. Sunak, a former banker and one of the UK’s richest people, drew groans when he blamed NHS waiting lists on doctor strikes, and was greeted by laughter when he said the numbers were going down “because they were higher” before. But he seemed to make up some ground with the audience when discussing how he planned to tackle immigration, claiming his controversial plan to send certain asylum seekers to Rwanda was a deterrent. Starmer said he also had a plan to tackle immigration and that he would consider processing asylum claims in a third country as long as it did not breach international law. After the debate ended, a YouGov snap poll gave Sunak a slight edge, with 51 percent saying he performed better overall, compared with 49 percent for Starmer. Broken down into issues, however, respondents said Starmer did far better on the cost of living, the NHS, education and climate change. Sunak was seen as doing well only on tax and, by a narrow margin, on immigration. Rob Ford, a professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said the evening would probably be seen as good for Sunak since his party is so behind in the polls. “Will it matter in the end? Probably not. But it’s a bit of good news for Cons[ervatives] after a pretty rough few days. Will help with morale, at a minimum,” he wrote on X. The run-up to the clash was overshadowed by the populist politician Nigel Farage, who announced this week he would campaign for a seat in parliament as leader of the right-wing, anti-immigration Reform party. Farage, who once had a seat in the European Parliament, has failed seven times to become a UK MP. He is running this time in the eastern seaside town of Clacton, which backed his pet policy of Brexit and where the incumbent Conservative won a nearly 26,000 vote majority in 2019. Opinion polls suggest Labour’s lead has held firm against the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010, in the nearly two weeks since the campaign began. Several more debates are scheduled before polling day, some featuring multiple party leaders as well as the two front-runners. Adblock test (Why?)
French military trainers would be ‘legitimate target’ in Ukraine: Lavrov
Ukraine has said paperwork has been signed that would allow French instructors to train Kyiv’s soldiers. Any French military instructors sent to Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for Russian armed forces, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said after Ukrainian officials revealed they were seeking training assistance for their troops from France. Lavrov made the remarks at a joint news conference on Tuesday with the Republic of the Congo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Claude Gakosso. “As for the French instructors, I think they are already on the Ukrainian territory,” Lavrov said. “Regardless of their status, military officials or mercenaries represent a legitimate target for our armed forces.” Ukraine’s top commander said last week he had signed paperwork that would soon allow French military instructors to access Ukrainian training centres. Afterwards, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not comment on “rumours or decisions that could be made” and that he would elaborate on France’s support during events later this week to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day where he will be joined by leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Macron’s office on Tuesday said it would not comment on Lavrov’s remarks. There is no evidence that French instructors are in Ukraine. Lavrov has visited Africa several times in the past few years as Russia seeks to shore up support amid Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Several African countries in recent years have expressed growing frustration with their traditional Western partners like France and the United States and some have turned to Russia for help in fighting Islamic insurgencies. Lavrov on Tuesday also dismissed the Ukraine peace conference due to take place later this month in Switzerland. Russia, which insists any discussions need to start with on-the-ground “realities”, has not been invited. It currently occupies about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory. “This conference in Switzerland has no meaning,” Lavrov said. “The only meaning it can have is to try to preserve this anti-Russian bloc which is in the process of crumbling.” Switzerland has said that more than 80 delegations have confirmed their attendance. China, which has deepened its relationship with Moscow, said last week it would not attend. The Republic of the Congo was the second stop on Lavrov’s tour. He visited Guinea on Monday and met the country’s foreign minister. Late on Tuesday, he landed at the airport of the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou, the country’s authorities said in a statement on social media. Lavrov was scheduled to meet on Wednesday with Captain Ibrahim Traore, the country’s leader who took power following a 2022 military coup. He was expected in Chad on Wednesday afternoon, the country’s authorities said in a statement. Adblock test (Why?)
Photos: BJP and opposition supporters celebrate India election results
India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed election victory for his party and its allies on Tuesday, but the opposition said they had “punished” the governing party to confound predictions and reduce their parliamentary majority. Commentators and exit polls had projected an overwhelming victory for Modi, whose campaign wooed the Hindu majority to the worry of the country’s 200-million-plus Muslim community, deepening concerns over minority rights. But for the first time in a decade, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to secure an overall majority of its own, figures from the election commission showed, meaning it would need to rely on its alliance partners. The main opposition Congress party was set to nearly double its parliamentary seats, in a remarkable turnaround largely driven by deals to field single candidates against the BJP’s electoral juggernaut. “Voters have punished the BJP,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters. “I was confident that the people of this country would give the right response.” With nearly 99 percent of votes counted, the BJP’s vote share at 36.7 percent was marginally lower than it was in the last polls in 2019. Celebrations had already begun at BJP headquarters before the full announcement of results. But the mood at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi was also one of jubilation. “BJP has failed to win a big majority on its own,” Congress lawmaker Rajeev Shukla told reporters. “It’s a moral defeat for them.” Adblock test (Why?)
Biden suggests Netanyahu prolonging Israel’s Gaza war for political gains
Washington, DC – United States President Joe Biden has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war on Gaza for political reasons, an accusation that highlights the apparent tensions between the two leaders. In a TIME Magazine interview published on Tuesday, the US president said there is “every reason for people to draw” the conclusion that Netanyahu is perpetuating the conflict for his own political ends. Biden’s remarks come as his administration pushes for a truce deal and exchange of captives between Israel and Hamas that Washington says would lead to an “enduring ceasefire” and the eventual reconstruction of Gaza. The US has presented the proposal as an Israeli plan, arguing that Hamas is the only obstacle to the agreement. The Palestinian group said on Friday – hours after Biden made the proposal public – that it is dealing “positively and constructively” with the plan, but it has not issued a formal response to it. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has said the deal would “enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities”. The discrepancy between how US and Israeli officials are portraying the proposal has led to confusion. Still, the push marks a shift in the position of the Biden administration, which had previously rejected a permanent end to the war, arguing that Israel must eliminate Hamas before a lasting ceasefire is achieved. Biden criticised Israel’s war efforts on Friday. “Indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of ‘total victory’ will … only bog down Israel in Gaza, draining the economic, military, and human resources, and furthering Israel’s isolation in the world,” he said. The US president’s remarks to TIME Magazine on Netanyahu appear to further underscore his growing frustration with the conflict. Before the war broke out on October 7, Netanyahu was dealing with nationwide protests in Israel over a push to overhaul the country’s judiciary. The Israeli prime minister is also facing corruption charges at home. For months, Palestinian rights advocates have warned that Netanyahu has a personal, political interest in prolonging the war to boost his standing in Israel and extend his political career. Recent surveys in Israel show Netanyahu recovering popularity amid the war and edging out his main rival, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz. Israeli officials close to Netanyahu have previously floated the possibility of a protracted conflict in Gaza. Days before Biden unveiled the truce proposal, Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said the fighting in Gaza would go on for at least another seven months. In the US, Biden’s response to the war in Gaza could harm his re-election chances, with public opinion polls showing that Arab, Muslim and young voters are reluctant to vote for the Democratic president over his support for Israel. Biden, a self-proclaimed Zionist, had been a staunch defender of the war. His administration has vetoed three United Nations Security Council draft resolutions that would have called for a ceasefire. The US president also signed off in April on $14bn in additional military aid to Israel. And his administration has continued to transfer weapons to the country despite growing allegations of war crimes, including withholding aid, killing non-combatants, torturing detainees and targeting civilian infrastructure. International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and his defence minister Yaov Gallant as well as Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes. Last month, Biden rejected the ICC prosecutor’s move and called it “outrageous”, but the White House has opposed congressional efforts to impose sanctions on ICC officials for their investigation of Israeli conduct. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 36,500 Palestinians and brought Gaza to the verge of famine. In his interview with TIME Magazine, Biden said it is “uncertain” that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. In December, Biden said Israel was losing support for its war on Gaza over its “indiscriminate bombing” of the territory – a war crime. Adblock test (Why?)