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?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 873
As the war enters its 873rd day, these are the main developments. This is where the war stands on Wednesday, July 17, 2024: Fighting: Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s Kursk region triggered a fire at a factory producing electrical devices and wounded at least six people, according to local governors. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one over the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine. Russian authorities announced plans to restrict civilian access to 14 villages in the southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, due to relentless Ukrainian shelling. The chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, thanked Russian forces for capturing the village of Urozhaine in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and “set new tasks for further activity”, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. Russian investigators said they were looking into the shooting of a wounded Russian soldier by Ukrainian forces in a video published online by Ukraine’s Azov Brigade. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said it is providing its under-resourced military with munitions that had been sent to be scrapped before the Russian invasion. The rounds would undergo thorough quality checks before they are distributed to Ukrainian forces on the front, it said. Politics and diplomacy The Kremlin responded cautiously to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s apparent invitation to a future peace summit, saying Moscow needs to understand what Kyiv means before attending talks. The Ukrainian president had said that Russia “should be” represented at a second summit on the war, following high-level talks last month in Switzerland that Moscow did not attend. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a member of the country’s security council, said the accession of Ukraine to NATO would be a declaration of war against Moscow and only “prudence” on behalf of the alliance could prevent the planet from being shattered into pieces. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sent a letter to leaders of the European Union, saying that US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is ready to act “immediately” as a peace broker in the Russia-Ukraine war if he is elected in November. The president of the European Council Charles Michel responded to Orban’s letter telling the Hungarian leader that he had no EU mandate for talks on the war. Michel also rejected Orban’s assertion that the EU had pursued a “pro-war” policy in Ukraine. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formally notified Russia and Belarus that they would exit a 2001 agreement that kept the three Baltic countries connected to an electricity transmission system controlled by Moscow. The move is part of an effort to sever ties with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. At the United Nations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the US of demanding “unquestioning obedience” from allies and threatening multilateralism The Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan has dismissed a priest who opposed Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Hieromonk Lakov had advocated for the creation of a breakaway Orthodox Church, free of Moscow’s influence. Japan meanwhile is making final arrangements to loan $3.3bn to Ukraine using interest from frozen Russian assets, about 6 percent of the G7’s total $50bn package, the Kyodo news agency reported, citing diplomatic sources. Economy Ukraine’s parliament voted to scrap taxes and duties on imports of energy equipment – including for wind and solar generation – as the country battles a severe energy crisis due to Russian bombardments. Ukraine’s state company Ukroboronservice and Czech ammunition maker, Sellier and Bellot, have signed an agreement to to build an ammunition factory in Ukraine, the two countries announced. Russia-based global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky announced it would wind down US operations after Washington sanctioned its senior officials and banned the sale of its popular antivirus software. Russia’s communications regulator meanwhile demanded Google reinstate more than 200 Russian YouTube channels that the US company blocked for spreading pro-Kremlin content, including over the conflict in Ukraine. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump’s former rivals Haley, DeSantis put on show of unity at RNC
Donald Trump has received emphatic endorsements from former rivals at the Republican National Convention (RNC), a display of party unity days after he narrowly escaped being killed by a would-be assassin’s bullet. On the second day of the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis feted their former rival as they urged Republicans to come together to defeat US President Joe Biden in November. Haley, who previously called Trump unelectable, unqualified and “unhinged”, said that Republicans should back Trump for the “sake of our nation”, taking aim at Biden’s handling of foreign policy and immigration, the key theme of the evening. “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100 percent of the time to vote for him,” Haley told delegates on the second day of the convention. “Take it from me. I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree.” Stressing the need for Republicans and Americans alike to come together, Haley said the US’s enemies benefit when the country is divided. “No president can fix all of our problems alone. We have to do this together. America has an amazing ability to self-correct,” Haley said. “In this moment, we have a chance to put aside our differences and focus on what unites us and strengthens our country. Let us join together as a party, let us come together as a people, as one country strong and proud. Let us show our children and the world that even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks on the second day of the RNC at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 16 [Mike Segar/Reuters] DeSantis, who finished a distant third to Trump in the primaries, struck a more combative tone, latching onto concerns about Biden’s mental acuity and calling on Republicans to send him “back to the basement”. “As a citizen, as husband and as a father, I am alarmed that the current president of the United States lacks the capability to discharge the duties of his office. Our enemies do not confine their designs to between 10am and 4pm,” DeSantis said. “We need a commander in chief who can lead 24 hours a day and seven days a week. America cannot afford four more years of a ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ presidency,” DeSantis added, referring to the 1989 comedy film about two employees who spend a weekend passing off their dead boss as alive. DeSantis said Trump deserved Republicans’ support after being demonised, sued, prosecuted and nearly killed. “We cannot let him down. And we cannot let America down,” he said. In keeping with his reputation as a cultural conservative warrior, DeSantis blasted the Democrats on hot-button issues ranging from undocumented migration across the southern border, to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and “gender ideology”. “They can’t even define what a woman is. Now Donald Trump stands in their way, and he stands up for America,” he said. Our enemies do not confine their designs to between 10AM and 4PM. We need a commander-in-chief who can lead 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. America cannot afford four more years of a Weekend at Bernie’s presidency. Let’s send Joe Biden back to his basement, and let’s send… pic.twitter.com/Px7h0YE5Pv — Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) July 17, 2024 US Senator Ted Cruz, who ran unsuccessfully against Trump in 2016, also hailed Trump’s candidacy, telling the crowd: “God bless Donald J Trump!” As he did on the first day of the convention, Trump again received a hero’s welcome as he entered the Fiserv Forum, receiving a standing ovation from a jubilant party faithful. Trump did not address the convention but is scheduled to deliver his keynote speech on Thursday. Trump has indicated unity will be a key theme of his address, saying that the attempt on his life inspired him to rewrite the speech he had originally planned. Republican presidential candidate and former US president, Donald Trump, arrives during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Tuesday [Evan Vucci/AP Photo] Donald Trump Jr, Donald Trump’s eldest son, told Axios on Tuesday that his father intends to tone down his rhetoric, saying there are “events that change you for a couple of minutes and there are events that change you permanently”. While it is not yet clear how Trump’s close brush with death will affect the presidential race, some political analysts have suggested that it increases his chances of victory, especially as it happened in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that is considered crucial to Biden’s re-election chances. Trump has for months been ahead of Biden in most opinion polls, both nationwide and in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan – all three of which flipped from Trump to Biden in 2020. An average of polls on the FiveThirtyEight website shows Trump ahead by 2.2 percent nationally. Adblock test (Why?)
Three Syrian children killed in ‘horrific’ Israeli attack on Lebanon
UN condemns Israeli attack that killed children who were reportedly playing outside their home in south Lebanon. Israeli air attacks in southern Lebanon have killed at least five Syrians, including three children, Lebanese media reported, as Israel’s military and the Hezbollah armed group continued to trade fire across the border. Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said on Tuesday that the three children were killed in an Israeli air raid “that targeted farmland in the village of Umm Toot”, while two others were killed in an Israeli drone attack on the Kfar Tebnit road, which is also in south Lebanon. The UN children’s agency (UNICEF) condemned the deadly attacks. “The killing of 3 more children by an airstrike today as they were reportedly playing in front of their home in South Lebanon is horrific,” the agency said in a post on X. It added that “more children are at risk as long as the violence continues”. The AFP news agency, citing a Lebanese security source, reported that the other two Syrians killed on Tuesday were “civilians” who worked in the area and had been swimming there. The NNA said that “eyewitnesses reported that the motorbike was carrying two people and that when a number of citizens tried to approach the bike … it was subjected to a second strike”. The killings come as Israeli forces continued to trade fire with Hezbollah, which launched attacks on Israel in support of Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip. The Lebanese armed group has said it will cease hostilities as soon as Israeli authorities and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, agree on a ceasefire deal to end the brutal war which has killed at least 38,713 Palestinians in Gaza and 1,139 people in Israel. Data from the the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), show that Israel, Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon have carried out at least 7,400 attacks across the border since the war on Gaza began in October last year. Israel conducted about 83 percent of these attacks, totalling 6,142 incidents, and killing at least 543 people in Lebanon. Hezbollah and other armed groups were responsible for 1,258 attacks that killed at least 21 Israelis. Israel’s military said on Tuesday that its air force launched attacks on parts of south Lebanon after detecting more than 50 projectiles from the neighbouring country. The military said it attacked Hezbollah sites, including a “terrorist cell” in the Yarin area, which is close to Umm Toot. The Lebanese armed group issued a statement afterwards saying that it launched rounds of “Katyusha rockets” at northern Israel in response. The group in separate statements mentioned both “the death of two civilians” in Kfar Tebnit and “the horrible massacre in Umm Toot village” as reasons for the retaliatory fire. The violence, largely restricted to the border area, has raised fears of all-out conflict between the foes, who last went to war in the summer of 2006. Adblock test (Why?)
‘My brothers, my brothers!’: Survivors recall chaos after al-Mawasi attacks
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – On Saturday morning, Waad Abu Zaher was standing on a crowded street in al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip trying to find a donkey cart, minibus or some other transport so she could go to work. The 30-year-old journalist works out of a media tent at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis and commutes east from a tent camp in al-Mawasi. She lives there with her parents and four brothers, who have been displaced eight times since Israel first issued an evacuation order soon after the war on Gaza began on October 7. That morning she watched as her father left for work and her brothers went off to collect water and buy groceries. It was around 10am as she stood in a lively part of the camp for displaced people, with vendors, water filling points and a community kitchen distributing food to children who had lined up to collect free meals. “Suddenly, the first missile hit, then the second. I found myself flying and landing a short distance away. The sky turned white with dust. The third missile. I started running and screaming, ‘My brothers, my brothers!’” she recounted, choking up as she spoke over WhatsApp. “Israel not only forced us to live in tents unsuitable for human life, but also pursued us here with bombs and missiles,” she said. A child walks amid damage following an Israeli strike on displaced Palestinians’ tent homes in al-Mawasi [Hatem Khaled/Reuters] ‘I checked my body as I ran’ Waad says she started running, searching for her brothers. “I checked my body as I ran — ‘Are my eyes in place? Is my head OK? My legs, my hands, my face?’” she recalled thinking. “I was running around, surrounded by corpses, blood, [scattered] pots of [the] children who had lined up at the food kitchen, and gallons of water,” she said. “I saw people carrying a young man with a shattered leg, and another young man running behind them with an amputated leg, screaming, ‘I found his leg,’” she said quietly, at some points crying as she recalled the attack. “I saw a pregnant woman lying on the ground, bleeding from between her legs, next to an injured child whose arm was gone.” Around her, people had started running towards the area that had been struck to help. She recalls the mothers arriving, screaming and searching for their children. “Every mother knows her child will be here because it’s where we fill water, receive food, or charge internet cards,” she said. “This area is the heart of life in Mawasi Khan Younis.” Amidst the chaos, Waad found her brothers, and ran to them, hugging them. They were covered in dust but unharmed. Israel’s attack on Saturday — in an area designated a “safe zone” by the Israeli military and where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering — killed at least 90 people and wounded 300 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Israeli warplanes struck tents and a water distillation area. Waad says she may have survived the attack, but she is in shock. “Every time I think about what happened, I burst into tears.” Waad says she still cannot believe that their homes were attacked and says that many in the camp are thinking about moving elsewhere. “[But] here the question remains: ‘Where can we go?’” she asked. The July 13 attack killed at least 90 people and injured hundreds more [Mohammed Salem/Reuters] ‘Surviving here is a matter of luck’ Badee’ Daaour, 36, lives with his wife and four children in al-Mawasi. “We had just finished breakfast and were preparing for the day,” he recalled of the morning of the July 13 attack. Suddenly, huge explosions hit the area. “I didn’t comprehend what was going on. My wife and I were screaming and shouting for our children. We couldn’t see anything through the dust.” “The plumes of fire were only 50 metres (165 feet) away,” he recalled. “My tent was destroyed, and several nearby tents were set on fire.” Badee’ remembers dragging his youngest child from the tent and running with his wife past other tents, seeking safety. “Everyone was screaming. The sounds of bombing were horrific.” As they arrived near an area that had been hit, Badee’ was shocked by what he saw. “Blood was everywhere, shreds of dead bodies were on the ground, kids covered in blood,” he recalled in a quiet voice. “I saw people who were buried alive under the sand due to the intensity of the bombing. People gathered to pull them out. Some were alive, some were killed or injured.” He frantically searched for his three other children who had been outside when the attacks happened. “I saw many mothers and fathers running and screaming desperately for their lost children. Many of them found their kids shattered into pieces in the attack. They were about to lose their minds,” he added. He was relieved to find his remaining children were safe and then, when he was a bit calmer, Badee’ noticed his leg had been slightly injured and so he headed to the hospital for treatment. Badee’ arrived at Nasser Medical Complex, Gaza’s second-largest hospital, which has barely returned to service after ground and air assaults by the Israeli military rendered it nonoperational. “My neighbour in the next tent was injured in the back, then he found his little daughter was killed and the other one was severally injured in her spine,” he said. Badee’ has been trying to comfort and help his neighbour. “He was sitting inside his tent, two metres away from me, but the shrapnel pierced into his tent, not mine,” he explained while sitting in his family’s tent that was brought down in the attacks and has now been put up again. “Surviving here is a matter of luck. Every one of us waits for his turn in this ongoing genocide,” Badee’ said. “Bombing tents in which thousands of displaced people were crowded with several heavy missiles? How does
Trump’s hardline immigration policies in spotlight on day two of RNC
Republicans rally around former president’s agenda at National Convention in Milwaukee, days after rally shooting. Donald Trump’s hardline stance on immigration will be in the spotlight on the second day of the Republican National Convention (RNC), after the former United States president made his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt at the weekend. Republicans are expected to hit out at their Democratic rivals on Tuesday at the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the day’s theme is “Make America Safe Once Again”. The GOP has rallied around the ex-president’s tough-on-immigration policies, which have been a central part of Trump’s political brand as well as his 2024 election campaign. Republicans also have used immigration – one of the top issues of concern for American voters – to criticise US President Joe Biden before November’s election, which is set to be a close race between Biden and Trump. They have accused the Democratic president of not doing enough to stem the flow of asylum seekers crossing the country’s southern border with Mexico, and the GOP’s platform pledges to seal the border and “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history”. In an interview with FOX News on Monday, JD Vance – who was selected hours earlier as Trump’s running mate – said “we have to deport” undocumented immigrants in the US. “We have to deport people who broke our laws, who came in here. And I think we start with the violent criminals,” Vance said. Republicans also have sought to tie immigration to crime, promising in their party platform that they will stop an alleged “migrant crime epidemic”. “Once iconic American cities and communities have become hollowed out, dystopian nightmares thanks to Joe Biden and Democrats’ ‘woke’ soft-on-crime and open border policies,” the Republican National Committee said as it unveiled the convention programme last week. Violent crime has been falling across the US in recent years, however. Research at Stanford University in California last year also showed that “immigrants are 30 percent less likely to be incarcerated than are US-born individuals who are white”. “From Henry Cabot Lodge in the late 19th century to Donald Trump, anti-immigration politicians have repeatedly tried to link immigrants to crime, but our research confirms that this is a myth and not based on fact,” said Ran Abramitzky, a Stanford professor and the study author. Migration rights advocates have also slammed the GOP for advancing “anti-immigrant rhetoric”. Still, Trump and Republicans are hoping their hardline policies will appeal to voters as November’s presidential election nears. Reporting from the RNC in Milwaukee, Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane said it remains unclear who will be speaking on Tuesday evening at the event. Members of Trump’s family as well as US business leaders, minor celebrities and Republican lawmakers are expected to address the crowd over the course of the four-day event, Culhane said. Trump, who was formally confirmed as the Republican presidential nominee on Monday and received a hero’s welcome on the floor of the RNC, will deliver a speech on the convention’s closing night on Thursday. Meanwhile, Biden continues to field questions about the viability of his re-election campaign after several Democrats called on him to drop out of the race in the aftermath of a confused and concerning debate performance last month. Speaking to NBC News on Monday evening, the US president reiterated that he intends to stay on to challenge Trump in November. Adblock test (Why?)