Voters distraught over the war in Gaza are torn between Harris and Trump.
With the United States presidential election just days away, the race for the White House is too close to call.
Given the Biden administration’s support for the war in Gaza, many Arab American voters who normally vote Democrat are now leaning towards Trump, creating panic in the Democratic Party’s electoral machine.
Contributors: Shadi Hamid – Columnist, The Washington Post Samraa Luqman – Trump supporter Wa’el Alzayat – CEO, Emgage Yumna Patel – Editor-in-Chief, Mondoweiss
On our radar:
As US media outlets brace for a possible Trump victory, major publications like The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times have chosen to withhold presidential endorsements. Meenakshi Ravi breaks down the implications of this.
More than three years after a military coup halted Myanmar’s democratic progress, journalists continue to report – often covertly or from abroad. Among them, the Mizzima network has become a symbol of the nation’s enduring struggle against military rule.
Featuring: Mu Philista – Journalist, Kantarawaddy Times Sein Win – Managing Editor, Mizzima Soe Myint – Co-founder & Editor-in-Chief, Mizzima
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the thousands of North Korean soldiers expected to reinforce Russian troops on the front line in Ukraine are pushing the almost three-year war beyond the borders of the warring parties.
Western leaders say North Korea has sent some 10,000 soldiers to help Russia’s military campaign and warn that its involvement in a European war could also unsettle relations in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he spoke to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and told him that 3,000 North Korean soldiers are already at military bases close to the Ukrainian front line and that he expects that deployment to increase to 12,000.
Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder on Tuesday said a “relatively small number” of North Korean troops are now in Russia’s Kursk region, where Russian troops have been struggling to push back a Ukrainian incursion, and a couple thousand more are heading in that direction.
South Korea, which has been in close contact with NATO, the US and the European Union about the latest developments, warned last week that it could send arms to Ukraine in retaliation for the North’s involvement.
“There is only one conclusion – this war is internationalised and goes beyond the borders” of Ukraine and Russia, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
The Ukrainian president also said he and Yoon agreed to step up their countries’ cooperation and exchange more intelligence, as well as develop concrete responses to Pyongyang’s involvement.
More US military support?
In Washington, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Tuesday with Zelenskyy’s top adviser to discuss the North Korean troops, as well as a coming surge of weaponry that the US is delivering to Kyiv to help the Ukrainians harden protection of their energy infrastructure, The Associated Press news agency reported, citing White House officials familiar with their private talks.
Sullivan and Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, shared concerns that North Korean troops could be deployed to Russia’s Kursk region and what such a development could mean for the war.
The officials, who were not authorised to comment publicly, said during the two-hour meeting at the White House, Sullivan also briefed Yermak on President Joe Biden’s plans to push additional artillery systems, ammunition, hundreds of armoured vehicles and more to Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
Sullivan told Yermak that by year’s end, the US administration plans to provide Ukraine with 500 additional Patriot and ARAAM missiles to help bolster air defences, according to the officials.
Later on Tuesday, Biden said Ukraine should strike back if North Korean troops crossed into the country.
“I am concerned about it,” Biden said when asked about North Korean troops being present in the Kursk region.
“If they cross into Ukraine, yes,” he said when asked if the Ukrainians should strike back.
Meanwhile, North Korea said its top diplomat was visiting Russia, in another sign of their deepening relationship.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui arrived in Russia’s far east on Tuesday on her way to Moscow, Russian state media said. Russian state news agencies said it was not clear who Choe, making her second visit in six weeks, would meet.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had no plans to meet her.
What role the North Korean troops may play remains unclear.
“The numbers make this more than a symbolic effort, but the troops will likely be in support roles and constitute less than 1 percent of Russia’s forces,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank said in a note.
“Russia is desperate for additional manpower, and this is one element of Russia’s effort to fill the ranks without a second mobilisation,” it added, noting the presence could grow.
Ukraine cities bombarded
Meanwhile, Russian drones, missiles and bombs smashed into Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s biggest cities, in nighttime attacks, killing four people and wounding 15 in a continuing aerial onslaught, authorities said Tuesday.
Russia has bombarded civilian areas of Ukraine almost daily since its full-scale invasion of its neighbour, causing thousands of casualties.
The Russian army is also pushing hard against front-line defences in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that Russian troops captured the Donetsk town of Hirnyk and the villages of Katerynivka, and Bohoiavlenka.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has rallied his Make America Great Again (MAGA) base at a rally in New York City, again vowing to crack down on migration while slamming his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris.
Trump repeatedly attacked migrants during his speech at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, pledging to follow through on his campaign promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in United States history if elected.
“November 5 will be the most important date in the history of our country and together, we will make America powerful again,” said the former president, who painted a portrait of a country plagued by economic and social crises.
Trump was joined by a slew of Republicans and other allies during the event. Many launched into ad hominem attacks against Harris – one speaker called her “the devil” – and used incendiary rhetoric against migrants, immigrant communities, and perceived opponents.
Trump also blamed Harris – whom he described as a “radical left Marxist” who is unintelligent and “unfit” to serve as president – for the problems the country faces. “You’ve destroyed our country,” he said, referring to the US vice president.
The rally comes just nine days before Americans go to the ballot box on November 5 to elect their next president, with polls showing Trump and Harris locked in a neck-and-neck fight for the White House.
Trump speaks during the rally at Madison Square Garden, in New York, October 27 [Andrew Kelly/Reuters]
The election is hinging on seven critical battleground states – including Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania – where the race remains too close to call.
Reporting from New York on Sunday evening, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher explained that the election will likely come down to a few thousand voters who “are going to make the final verdict” in those swing states.
“And it’s there that the candidates will concentrate their efforts in the last nine days of this election campaign,” Fisher said.
Both the Harris and Trump camps have been urging their supporters to get out to vote in the final stretch of their respective campaigns.
More than 41 million Americans had already voted in early in-person voting or via mail-in ballots by midday on Sunday, according to a tally by the Election Lab at the University of Florida.
Harris was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, making stops at a church, barbershop and a Puerto Rican restaurant before spending time with youth basketball players at a local community centre.
During a rally on Sunday evening, the Democratic vice president sought to portray her Republican rival as a divisive force in American politics and warned of the “high stakes” of the upcoming vote.
But she struck a more conciliatory note than at some of her most recent campaign events, where Harris has accused Trump of being a “fascist” and “unhinged”.
‘Let’s talk with each other about what we have in common,’ Harris said during her rally in Philadelphia, October 27 [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]
That may be a result of a recent warning from a leading pro-Harris political action committee, which said such attacks against the Republican may not be connecting with voters, The New York Times reported.
“Let’s approach this moment in a way that in the face of strangers, we see a neighbour,” Harris said during her Philadelphia event.
“Let’s talk with each other about what we have in common,” she said.
“Let’s build community and let’s knock on doors. Let’s text and call potential voters. Let’s reach out to our family and our friends and our classmates and our neighbours, tell them about the stakes in this election and tell them about their power.”
But Harris’s camp seized on some of the disparaging remarks from Trump and other speakers during the event at Madison Square Garden, including a comedian who said Puerto Rico was “a floating island of garbage”.
“Puerto Rico is home to some of the most talented, innovative and ambitious people in our natin. And Puerto Ricans deserve a president who sees and invest[s] in that strength,” Harris said in a campaign video shared on social media.
The exchange could provide a boost to Harris, as there are large Puerto Rican populations in the key swing states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
As the campaign blitz continues ahead of election day, the Democrat will be going back to Michigan – another key swing state – on Monday to hold a rally alongside her vice-presidential running mate, Tim Walz.
For his part, Trump will be in Atlanta, Georgia, to try to rally his supporters in a state that he narrowly lost to Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020.
An Al Jazeera investigation has revealed that the United States and United Kingdom have provided military support to Israel by creating an air bridge that was vital to sustain the intensity of the war on Gaza. Alex Gatopoulos breaks it down.
The Lakers picked LeBron’s 20-year-old son in the NBA Draft in June, making them the first father-son duo in the same team.
LeBron James and his eldest son Bronny James have claimed a piece of NBA history, making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The duo appeared together on Sunday at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles.
While LeBron impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in little more than 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one shot.
“It was cool for both of us, especially our family,” LeBron James, 39, said after playing alongside Bronny, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Sunday. “It’s definitely a moment I’ll never forget.
“As a father it means everything. For someone who didn’t have a dad growing up, to be able to have that influence on your son, to be able to have moments with your son, to work with your son – that’s one of the greatest things a father could ever hope for.”
James senior admitted though that there were moments on court that felt surreal.
“We came out of a timeout and we kind of stood next to each other. I kind of looked at him. It was like being in The Matrix or something. It just didn’t feel real. But it was great to have those moments.”
Anticipation about when the James duo would become the first father-son duo to appear in the same NBA lineup together has built since the Lakers picked Bronny with the 55th pick in the NBA Draft in June.
“I’m thrilled that I get to be a part of this,” new Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the James double act.
“It’s cool as a basketball fan. I think it speaks to the longevity of LeBron and his competitive stamina. And it speaks to the work that Bronny has done to get to this point.”
Redick introduced Bronny James to the floor, with the Lakers leading 34-25 in the second quarter.
LeBron James has said playing with Bronny on the same team has given him a new lease on life as he enters the 22nd season of a glittering career.
“It’s a lot of excitement, a pure joy, to be able to come to work every day, put in hard work with your son every day and be able to see him continue to grow,” James said.
“We push each other. He pushes me. I push him. We push our teammates, and vice versa. So it’s just a very joyous moment not only for myself, but for our family.
“So it’s pretty awesome. Gives you a lot of life.”
Bronny said at the Lakers’ recent media day he was fuelled by the words of critics who have suggested he owes his place on the Lakers roster entirely to his superstar father.
“I’m just taking all that stuff, that criticism and backlash that people have given me and turning it into something that can fuel me,” he said.
Bronny is expected to spend most of his rookie season in the developmental G League rather than the Lakers senior squad.
The Lakers open their 2024-25 regular season campaign with a home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 22.
Gloria Solis moved to the United States from Mexico in 1998. To put food on the table for her four children, she works in the agricultural sector in Washington state. She’s one of the estimated 31 million foreign-born workers in the US — documented or otherwise — who are helping to drive the US economy.
She’s worried that if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gets elected, the life she has built for her and her family could be in jeopardy.
Trump has made immigration, a hot-button issue this election, one of the pillars of his campaign. The role of immigrants in the startup economy is well known – 55 percent of US startups valued at $1bn or more were founded by immigrants, and some of the most famous names in Silicon Valley are those of foreign-born entrepreneurs, including Tesla chief Elon Musk and Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
But what is often overlooked is the importance of immigrants, including undocumented ones, in other sections of the US society and economy.
In his comments, Trump has drawn a stark line defining who would be welcome in the US should he be elected the next US president. In June, he promised “to staple a Green Card to anyone who graduates from any college, even 2-yr community colleges” — a claim that the campaign later walked back on.
He has also publicly stated that he wishes to deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US. His plan, championed by loyalists like Stephen Miller, who served as a top adviser during his first term, is inspired by a policy from the 1950s put in place by then-President Dwight Eisenhower who, during his time in office, deported more than a million undocumented migrants, primarily from Mexico.
Much like human rights groups, economists too have slammed Trump’s plan.
A report earlier this year from Moody’s said that Trump’s immigration policy would cause “significant tightening in the already-tight job market” and would greatly affect sectors of the economy such as healthcare, retail, agriculture and construction that depend on many of these workers.
Workforce shortage
Trump has argued that deportations would increase job opportunities for native-born workers, but a look at any of these sectors suggests that is not how things would necessarily pan out.
Between farms, food-processing facilities and supermarkets, for instance, an estimated 1.7 million undocumented migrants work in the food supply chain, according to the Center For American Progress.
According to a study from the University of Arkansas, 73 percent of agricultural workers are immigrants and 48 percent of them are unauthorised. In California, nine out of 10 agricultural workers are foreign-born like Solis.
Miller, who before his stint in Trump’s administration was an aide to lawmakers, now runs American First Legal, a legal organisation which focuses on conservative causes. He told the New York Times in an interview last November that “Mass deportation will be a labour-market disruption celebrated by American workers, who will now be offered higher wages with better benefits to fill these jobs.”
But “farmers have said again and again that they can’t find a local workforce”, Teresa Romero, president of the United Farm Workers, told Al Jazeera.
In 2019, more than half of Californian farmers said they had trouble finding workers. It’s largely expected that if Trump gets his way, those shortages will only get worse.
A study published in the Journal of Labor Economics found that for every one million deported migrant workers, there would be a loss of 88,000 jobs for US natives. That’s because businesses are less likely to expand labour opportunities if they lose their workforce and more likely to use the savings to invest in technology that can automate their work.
“Estimates of the impact of that policy are vast and have a negative effect on the US economy … including [on] American natives,” Michael Clemens, professor of Economics at George Mason University, told Al Jazeera.
Trump’s deportation plan “not only is going to impact the lives of farm workers, but is going to impact all of us. We depend on their work to make sure that we have food on our table,” Romero added.
One study suggests that a total ban on immigrant labour would raise the cost of milk by 90 percent.
The role of such workers is not restricted to the US food supply chain. Undocumented migrants account for more than 346,000 workers in the healthcare sector, 236,300 of whom are filling roles like personal health and home aides and nursing assistants.
The US already has a healthcare worker shortage. For instance, according to Mercer Health, there are roughly 12,000 open nursing assistant jobs in Texas alone and more than 14,000 in California.
Similarly, the construction sector overwhelmingly relies on foreign-born labourers. In immigrant-heavy states like Texas and California, migrant workers make up 40 percent of the sector’s workforce. And a National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) report found as much as a 65 percent construction labour shortage in some jobs like finished carpentry. Mass deportation would exacerbate that shortage.
Trump has also blamed migrants for the current housing shortage, arguing they are taking up portions of the limited supply that would otherwise go to documented immigrants or native-born Americans.
In a speech for the Economic Club of New York, Trump said he would ban mortgages for undocumented migrants, but as Al Jazeera has previously reported, those mortgages are a tiny fraction of overall mortgages. On the contrary, his proposal of across-the-board tariffs will raise construction costs on imports of lumber and steel, among many other items, further shooting up home prices.
Trump’s policy proposals impact other sectors, too, including the transportation sector, where undocumented workers make up 6 percent of the workforce, and leisure and hospitality, where they comprise 8.4 percent.
The Trump campaign did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request to clarify how the former president would address the exacerbated worker shortage if he is re-elected in November.
Household incomes tumble
A key part of Trump’s plan is to get rid of a programme known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). It is a law which was introduced during the administration of former US President Barack Obama and which shields from deportation those who came to the US without documentation as children.
Trump’s attempts to end DACA as president were blocked by the Supreme Court, but he has vowed to try again if re-elected. That would impact the more than half a million people living in the US under DACA protections and their families.
“The biggest impact would be the potential separation of my family. If Trump does what he says he’s going to do, which is try to clear out all the undocumented people, obviously that would leave my kids who are US citizens without their parents,” Solis told Al Jazeera.
Apart from impacting Solis and families like hers, this would drastically affect the average household income amongst immigrant communities.
A report from the Center For Migration Studies published during the 2017-2021 Trump administration shows that removing undocumented migrants from mixed-status households would cause a 47 percent reduction in average household income.
An estimated 33 percent of unauthorised immigrants have at least one child who is a US citizen, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The Solis household fits this mould. Gloria has four children – all of them native-born US citizens.
Revenue void
It’s not just migrants who would be affected, but also the tax revenue they bring in.
Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7bn in taxes – almost $60bn of which went to the federal government – in 2022. Migrants paid $25.7bn towards US Social Security programmes that they are unable to use themselves. Trump’s plan would undermine these workers and limit tax revenues that help fuel the US economy.
“We would not only be missing out on the hard work that they do if they were to potentially be deported, but we’re also missing out on that additional revenue,” Marco Guzman, senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told Al Jazeera.
According to a report from the non-partisan Peterson Institute, deporting 7.5 million migrants would result in a 6.2 percent reduction in the US gross domestic product (GDP). And these estimates are still far short of the impact of Trump’s ideal plan, which would deport 11 million migrants.
Alternatively, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office forecasts that based on current trends, new immigrants would bring in $788bn in tax revenue over the next 10 years.
In March, Goldman Sachs noted that increased migration would cause a slight increase in economic output – three-tenths of a percentage point.
Neither Miller nor the Trump campaign responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Donald Trump says ‘too late’ to hold another debate as early voting has started ahead of November 5 election.
Kamala Harris has challenged Donald Trump to a second debate before the United States presidential election, saying she “will gladly accept” to go head-to-head again against the former president.
In a statement on Saturday, Harris’s campaign spokesperson Jen O’Malley said the US vice president had accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on October 23.
“We look forward to Vice President Harris again having the opportunity in the CNN debate to show her command of the issues and why it’s time to turn the page on Donald Trump and charge a new way forward for America,” O’Malley said.
More than 67 million people tuned in to the first Harris-Trump showdown on September 10, which saw the two candidates trade barbs on immigration, foreign policy, and other issues.
Most observers crowned Harris the winner of that debate, as she repeatedly appeared to rattle Trump over the course of the evening.
I will gladly accept a second presidential debate on October 23.
Trump had posted on his Truth Social media platform earlier this month that, “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”
Trump echoed that at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Saturday, saying it was “too late” to hold another showdown with Harris.
“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” he said, as reported by US news outlets.
While election day is November 5, early voting began this week in some US states.
In 2020, the final presidential debate ahead of the election was on October 22. Four years earlier, when Trump went up against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the third and final presidential debate was on October 19.
CNN has said the proposed October 23 debate would mirror the format of one held in June between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
Biden’s poor performance in that debate spurred questions about his age and ability to serve another term, and weeks later, he dropped out of the 2024 race.
“Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump received an invitation to participate in a CNN debate this fall as we believe the American people would benefit from a second debate between the two candidates for President of the United States,” CNN said in a statement.
“We look forward to receiving a response from both campaigns so the American public can hear more from these candidates as they make their final decision.”
Close race
Most polls show Trump and Harris locked in a close fight in the run-up to the upcoming vote, particularly in battleground states that will be key to winning the White House.
According to a New York Times polling tracker, Harris on Saturday held a slim lead of 49 percent support nationally compared with Trump’s 47 percent support.
It is not clear whether debates actually have an effect on presidential campaigns, with most experts saying the impact is minimal.
Nevertheless, Elaine Kamarck and William A Galston, election experts at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, DC, said the September Harris-Trump debate appeared “likely to put new wind in Harris’ sales”.
“Whether it will be enough to propel her to victory in the Electoral College remains to be seen. But her campaign and supporters leave the debate with renewed energy and hope,” they wrote.
“By contrast, the Trump campaign must reckon with the likelihood that their candidate’s performance pleased his base without rallying many new supporters to his side.”
Washington, DC – The United States has said it does not want to see further escalation between Israel and Hezbollah after the Lebanese armed group blamed Israel for a series of deadly, coordinated handheld pager blasts.
But the administration of US President Joe Biden, which remains Israel’s top military and diplomatic backer, on Tuesday also sought to downplay its ability to tamper tensions between the pair.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington was not involved in the apparent attack and was not given prior notification that it would occur.
“I will say that our overall policy remains consistent, which is, we do want to see a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah,” Miller said. “We are always concerned about any type of event that may cause further escalation.”
But when pushed on whether the Biden administration’s influence – the US provides Israel with $3.8bn in military aid annually as well as staunch diplomatic support – could be used to prevent a wider war, Miller said that was “not just a question for the United States”.
“Of course, it’s a first … order question to Israel. It’s a question to Hezbollah, but is a question to all of the other countries in the region about what type of region they want to live in,” he said.
“So the United States is going to continue to push for a diplomatic resolution.”
Miller’s remarks come as rights advocates have urged the Biden administration to apply pressure on Israel to end its war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since early October and decimated the coastal Palestinian enclave.
Analysts have repeatedly accused Washington of acting as both an “arsonist and firefighter” by continually refusing to leverage US military aid to its “ironclad” ally despite the risks that a prolonged Gaza war could lead to a wider regional escalation.
Hezbollah, which has been exchanging cross-border fire with Israel since the war in Gaza began, blamed Israel for Tuesday’s pager blasts and pledged that it would get its “fair punishment”.
The Israeli army has yet to comment on the explosions.
The Lebanese health minister said at least nine people were killed, including an eight-year-old girl, when the pagers exploded across Lebanon. About 2,750 people also were injured, including 200 in critical condition.
Asked about the apparently indiscriminate nature of the explosions, Miller at the US State Department declined to comment directly on what happened.
However, he said that, broadly speaking, the US position is that “no country, no organisation should be targeting civilians”.
‘Mud in their face’
The explosions took place as the Biden administration continues to say it is pushing to broker a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian faction that governs the territory.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was travelling to the Middle East for the latest meeting with mediators.
“President Biden doesn’t have a whole lot of time, the US election is less than 60 days away,” Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett reported from Washington, DC.
“So if [the Lebanon explosions] are something that Israel is in fact responsible for, this is certainly discouraging to the United States.”
The deadly blasts also came less than a day after White House adviser Amos Hochstein met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for de-escalation along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
Following the meeting, Netanyahu’s office released a defiant statement saying Israelis would not be able to return to evacuated areas along the Lebanon border “without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north”.
Ramy Khoury, a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, called the Israeli response to the US appeal “par for the course”.
“The Israelis routinely not only neglect what the Americans tell them, but throw mud in their face,” Khoury told Al Jazeera.
“The Americans have very limited capabilities in terms of their diplomatic action. They’ve focused more on military support for Israel and sanctions against Israel’s foes.”
Khoury added that US “diplomatic efforts are not taken very seriously by most people in the region” due to the country’s unconditional support for Israel.
“The US should be a huge diplomatic actor,” he said. “But it is clearly on the side of Israel and everything it does has to fit into the priorities of Israel.”
Top US Republican politicians continue to repeat debunked rumours about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Ohio town.
Former President Donald Trump’s running mate in the US election, Republican Senator JD Vance, has defended amplifying false stories about migrants stealing and eating pets in the United States, saying in an interview that the political ends justify the means.
During several television appearances on Sunday, Vance was questioned about the unfounded claims he and Trump have made about Haitian migrants in the city of Springfield, Ohio, as part of a wider attack on the immigration policies of the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump had touted the false story during his first – and likely only debate – with Harris last week, with 67 million viewers tuning in. Local officials have repeatedly said they have received no evidence to support the rumours.
But Vance remained defiant on Sunday, saying in an interview with CBS News that he had received “verifiable and confirmable” accounts from residents of the Ohio community, without providing further evidence of the alleged incidents.
“Everybody who has dealt with a large influx of migration knows that sometimes there are cultural practices that seem very far out there to a lot of Americans,” he said. “Are we not allowed to talk about this in the United States of America?”
In another exchange on CNN, Vance was asked to “affirmatively say” that there is no evidence to support the stories about Haitian migrants eating pets.
Vance again replied he was only responding to constituents’ concerns.
“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do … because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast,” Vance replied, before backpedaling.
“I say that we’re creating a story, meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it,” Vance said.
For his part, Trump on Saturday again referenced Springfield, Ohio, during a speech near Los Angeles, vowing to deport Haitian immigrants from the community if elected in the November 5 vote.
Trump and his Republican allies have also been sharing cat-themed memes to push the anti-immigrant narrative.
Trump posts ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT’
For years, political violence experts have warned that the Trump campaign’s bellicose rhetoric and flippant approach to misinformation stoke social tensions and raise the spectre of violence.
Just two days after the debate, hospitals, schools and government buildings in Springfield, Ohio were forced to close amid a series of bomb threats that referenced the influx of migrants in the community.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden called the attacks “simply wrong”.
“This has to stop, what [Trump’s] doing. It has to stop,” Biden said.
Critics have also pointed to the Trump campaign’s approach as further evidence of US election seasons becoming increasingly dominated by ephemeral cultural spectacle meant to stoke partisan outrage, while sidelining meaningful policy discussion.
In the latest example, Trump on Sunday responded to pop star Taylor Swift’s recent endorsement of Harris. The nod is considered a major political boon for the Democratic candidate, with Swift boasting hundreds of millions of ardent fans across the world.
In a brief, all-caps post on his Truth Social account, Trump wrote: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.”
President Joe Biden has denounced election-season attacks on the Haitian American community in the United States, calling out Republican leaders for fear-mongering.
Speaking on Friday at a White House brunch billed as a “celebration of Black excellence”, Biden warned that Haitian Americans were a “community that’s under attack in our country right now”.
His remarks were a rebuke to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick JD Vance, both of whom have spread unfounded rumours about Haitian migrants and asylum seekers in the US.
“It’s simply wrong. There’s no place in America” for that kind of rhetoric, Biden said, without naming Trump directly.
“This has to stop, what he’s doing. This has to stop.”
Trump — a former Republican president — and Vance, a senator from Ohio, have campaigned on a largely anti-immigrant platform, stirring fears of mass migration and crime at rallies across the US.
In recent weeks, both men have zeroed in on the blossoming Haitian American community in Springfield, Ohio, where racial and ethnic tensions have simmered.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a press conference at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on September 13 [David Swanson/Reuters]
Springfield, part of the country’s industrial Rust Belt, has sought to bolster its local economy in recent years by welcoming newcomers to the city.
But as the Haitian American community grew, so too did the backlash. An estimated 15,000 Haitian immigrants have moved to the area — though officials on the city commission last year cited a lower estimate, between 4,000 and 7,000.
Some longtime residents called on the city commission to “stop them from coming”.
Tensions further escalated in August 2023, when a Haitian national was involved in a car crash that overturned a school bus and killed an 11-year-old child on the first day of school.
While the boy’s family has called on residents to stop the “hate”, attacks on the Haitian American community have continued to spread, attracting national attention.
In recent weeks, unfounded rumours have ricocheted across the internet that Haitian Americans are eating pets, echoing an anti-immigrant trope with a long history in the US.
The rumour appears to have originated from a screenshot, supposedly taken from a private Facebook group. And city officials have publicly denied there was any basis for it.
Even Vance acknowledged the murky nature of the allegations. “It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” he wrote in a social media post on September 10.
A counter-protester in Palo Alto, California, references Trump’s fear-mongering about pets being eaten in Springfield, Ohio, on September 13 [Manuel Orbegozo/Reuters]
But Trump and Vance have since repeated the rumour multiple times, including at high-profile events like the September 10 presidential debate.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in,” he said at the televised debate, viewed by 67 million people. “They’re eating the cats.”
The increased scrutiny on Springfield has led to multiple threats, reportedly linked to anti-immigrant sentiment. On Thursday, city hall was evacuated after a bomb threat. On Friday, other city buildings were likewise emptied after emails warned of an explosive device — including several schools.
Nevertheless, that same day, Trump revisited his attacks on the Haitian American community in a news conference at his golf club outside of Los Angeles, California.
“In Springfield, Ohio, 20,000 illegal Haitian migrants have descended upon a town of 58,000 people, destroying their way of life,” he said. “Even the town doesn’t like to talk about it because it sounds so bad for the town.”
He said the city — as well as Aurora, Colorado — would be a centrepiece for his immigration crackdown, should he be re-elected in November’s election.
“We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country,” he said. “And we’re going to start with Springfield and Aurora.”
Investors are scrambling to shift their positioning following the closely-watched debate between US Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, as betting markets swung in Harris’s favour after the event.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social, fell 13 percent on Wednesday afternoon, while other so-called Trump trades such as Bitcoin and crypto stocks retreated. Solar stocks, seen as benefitting from a Harris win, rallied and healthcare shares fell.
In a combative debate late Tuesday, Trump and Harris clashed over everything from the economy to immigration, as each sought a campaign-altering moment in what has been a closely-fought race.
Their exchanges left investors with few new details on United States issues that could sway markets, including tariffs, taxes and regulation. But online prediction markets showed bets on a stronger likelihood of a Harris win in November: Harris’s odds in PredictIt’s 2024 presidential general election market improved to 55 cents from 53 cents before the debate, while Trump’s odds slipped from 52 cents to 47 cents.
There is a “general view that Harris won the debate,” said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets in Singapore. “It’s obviously not a slam dunk for Harris, but the chances of a Trump victory have slipped a bit.
While the presidential race is very much on investors’ minds, political concerns have lately coalesced with more immediate market catalysts, including worries over a potentially softening US economy and uncertainty over how deeply the US Federal Reserve will need to cut interest rates.
The S&P 500 notched its worst weekly percentage loss since March 2023 last week after a second-straight underwhelming jobs report, though the index is still up around 15 percent this year.
Still, some investors believe even a small shift in perceptions of the candidates could prove significant in a contest that could come down to tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states. The candidates are effectively tied in the seven battleground states likely to decide the election, according to polling averages compiled by the New York Times.
“The US presidential debate achieved its goal by providing a decisive edge to one of the candidates in what has been an exceptionally close race,” said Charu Chanana, head of FX Strategy and global market strategist at Saxo. “Crypto and energy stocks might face headwinds as market sentiment adjusts to the shifting political dynamics.”
Trump has positioned himself as a pro-cryptocurrency candidate.
Debate impact
Investors pointed to several corners of the market where the debate appeared to have made an impact.
Investors hammered the shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, which have been popular among retail traders and sensitive to the former president’s chances of a win in the 2024 election. The stock fell by as much as 18 percent to a new post-IPO low of $15.30. Bitcoin was about flat on the day after slipping nearly 4 percent, while shares of some cryptocurrency-focused companies including crypto miner Riot Platforms also fell.
Stock of operators of correctional facilities, including GEO Group and CoreCivic, viewed as likely to benefit from tougher immigration policies, also slipped.
At the same time, US-listed shares of solar companies, seen as benefitting from a Harris win, rose. The Invesco Solar ETF, down about 25 percent for the year, jumped 5 percent on Wednesday.
Health insurer stocks including Humana and CVS Health were also down on Wednesday. Some analysts believe Harris’s push to lower drug prices may weigh on the sector.
Taxes and tariffs
Trump has promised lower corporate taxes and a tougher stance on trade and tariffs. He has also said a strong dollar hurts the US, though some analysts believe his policies could spur inflation and eventually buoy the currency.
Harris last month outlined plans to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent, a proposal that some on Wall Street believe could hurt corporate profits.
Steve Chiavarone, senior portfolio manager at Federated Hermes, said a Harris presidency, seen as less likely to widen budget deficits through higher spending, could help support Treasury prices while also boosting large-cap growth and tech stocks.
US-focused policies such as tax cuts and tariffs in a Trump presidency could buoy small-cap stocks and cyclical companies while hurting bonds, he said.
On Tuesday night, Harris attacked Trump’s intention to impose high tariffs on foreign goods – a proposal she has likened to a sales tax on the middle class – while touting her plan to offer tax benefits to families and small businesses.
As the region anticipates what an Iranian response to Israeli assassinations will be, US moves forces to the region.
The United States has deployed a naval strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean amidst increased tensions following Israel’s killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
The killings took place within hours of each other on July 30 and 31, with Haniyeh’s death also blamed on Israel, although it has not officially claimed responsibility.
The deployment follows a call on Sunday between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant in anticipation of an Iranian counterstrike.
In a statement released by the Pentagon afterwards, Austin “reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of US military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions”.
What are the stakes?
Observers are concerned that any retaliation to the two assassinations, from either Iran or its ally Hezbollah, could spark a wider regional war and potentially draw in the US in support of its ally Israel.
The deployment of the strike force comes at a time when critics of the US administration are calling upon it to use its influence to impose a ceasefire, the US news channel CNBC reported. US President Joe Biden has also criticised the conduct of the war on Gaza, characterising Israel’s operations in the enclave as “over the top” in February, and repeatedly saying that “too many” civilians had been killed. However, that has not led to any forceful attempts to get Israel to stop its assault on Gaza, such as a ban on arms sales, or other sanctions.
Many countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan and a number of Western states, have urged their citizens to evacuate Lebanon, fearing that the country could be heavily attacked by Israel if the latter is hit by direct strikes. Simultaneously, a number of airlines have suspended flights to Israel, Jordan and Lebanon.
What is the US hoping to achieve by deploying the naval task force to the region?
According to Gordon Gray, a professor and former US ambassador, “the announcement of the deployment of the carrier strike group is intended to deter Iran rather than to escalate the situation”.
Biden ordered a similar deployment to the eastern Mediterranean in October of last year, when one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world, the USS Gerald R Ford, steamed to the region, where it was joined by vessels and spy planes from the United Kingdom. At the time, US officials framed the deployment as a bid to deter Hezbollah and Iran from “taking advantage” of Israel’s war on Gaza, then in its early stages. Israel has now killed almost 40,000 Palestinians in the war.
Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, said that he believes the “US is clearly signaling to Iran that [it] will be part of any fight ahead, likely to deter Iran from a significant retaliation against Israel”.
Which vessels has the US deployed?
The strike group, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its squadron of F-35C fighter jets, was already heading towards the region, where it was scheduled to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. Austin has now ordered it to increase its speed. Additionally, the USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine carrying guided missiles that was already present within the Mediterranean, has been deployed to the area.
Is this an escalation?
HA Hellyer of the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI) believes that the show of force is intended to limit the chances of escalation, without the US having to confront the behaviour of its ally Israel and its war on Gaza.
However, restricting the odds of any escalation while also taking a hands-off approach to the actions of the Israeli government is likely to be challenging, not least when dealing with a state that has proven itself “incredibly reckless”, Hellyer noted.
“A lack of accountability ensures impunity, and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has broken pretty much every rhetorical red line that Biden has set down, and will keep doing so, until he thinks there will be real consequences,” he said.
Washington, DC – Vice President Kamala Harris says she will “not be silent” in the face of Palestinian suffering, as Israel’s war in Gaza rages on.
But Palestinian rights advocates want to know exactly what that means for United States foreign policy.
The vice president — and the Democrats’ likely nominee for the presidency — emphasised the plight of Palestinians in Gaza after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Nevertheless, she pledged ongoing support for Israel.
Activists say expressing sympathy for Palestinians without pursuing a meaningful shift away from the US’s policy of unconditional military and diplomatic support will not help Harris win back voters alienated by President Joe Biden’s approach to the war.
“Without an actual commitment to stop killing the children of Gaza, I don’t care about her empathy for them,” said Eman Abdelhadi, a sociologist at the University of Chicago. She stressed that the US bears “responsibility” for the atrocities committed against Palestinians.
“To be empathetic to someone that you’re shooting in the head is not exactly laudable. We don’t need empathy from these people. We need them to stop providing the weapons and the money that is actively killing the people that they’re supposedly empathising with.”
Moreover, while Harris’s comments have been characterised as a shift away from Biden’s rhetoric, critics point out the vice president did not articulate any new policy positions.
What did Harris say?
After holding talks with Netanyahu on Thursday, Harris delivered a televised statement on the conflict where she reasserted her “unwavering commitment” to Israel and promised to always ensure that the country can “defend itself”.
The vice president then pivoted to describing the horrific conditions in Gaza without naming Israel as the party responsible for the humanitarian crisis there.
“I also expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians,” Harris said, calling the war “devastating”.
“The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety — sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time — we cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.”
She also voiced support for Biden’s multi-phased ceasefire proposal to achieve an end to the war and release Israeli captives in Gaza. Israel and Hamas have been negotiating indirectly for months to finalise the agreement, but a solution has remained elusive so far.
At least on the surface, Harris’s tone appeared like a departure from Biden’s pro-Israel statements. “Harris created distance from Biden on Gaza by emphasizing Palestinian suffering,” a Washington Post headline read after the vice president’s comments.
However, Hazami Barmada, an Arab American activist who has been organising protests in the US capital to bring awareness to the situation in Gaza, said that the vice president’s public statement of sympathy “does not make a difference”.
Barmada pointed out that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he sees his own kids in the faces of the children in Gaza. Still, Blinken’s department has continued to approve billions of dollars in weapons for Israel.
“So no, I don’t think empathy is enough,” Barmada told Al Jazeera. “We have had on our television screens genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, illegal occupation, violence, all types of atrocities happening against Palestinians for 76 years. We need to move past empathy into a place of action before it’s too late.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex in Washington, DC, on July 25 [Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo]
Harris’s rise
Harris appears set to inherit the Democratic nomination from Biden, who stepped out of the presidential race on Sunday and instead endorsed the vice president.
With no serious opposition, Biden had won the overwhelming majority of votes in the Democratic primaries. But hundreds of thousands of people across the country chose the “uncommitted” option on Democratic primary ballots to express opposition to the president’s Gaza policy.
The uncommitted movement has articulated three main policy demands: achieving an enduring ceasefire, imposing an arms embargo on Israel and lifting the siege on Gaza.
Tariq Habash, a former Biden administration appointee, acknowledged the change of tone from Harris and called it “refreshing”. In January, he resigned from the Department of Education in a display of public opposition to US support for the war.
But Habash likewise said that Harris should be prepared to follow her rhetoric with action.
“What we really need, nine and a half months in, is a change in policy, a change in approach, so that we can end the unnecessary and indiscriminate violence that has continued every single day under President Biden,” Habash told Al Jazeera.
“It’s still early, so we don’t know exactly what her plan or approach will be, but based on what she said yesterday, I don’t think substantively we heard a shift or any real departure from what the president has already said or done.”
After all, Harris is a key member of the Biden administration, which has been unflinchingly supportive of Israel.
On Thursday, White House spokesperson John Kirby said the vice president has been a “full partner” in overseeing US policy on the war.
Harris’s record
Harris, a former senator, also has her own long pro-Israel record.
Days into her Senate tenure in 2017, Harris co-sponsored a measure to condemn a United Nations Security Council resolution that denounced Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
She also addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) later that year, at a time when many left-wing politicians were distancing themselves from the pro-Israel lobby group.
“Having grown up in the [San Francisco] Bay Area, I fondly remember those Jewish National Fund boxes that we would use to collect donations to plant trees for Israel,” Harris told an AIPAC conference in 2017.
For years, Palestinian historians and activists have accused the Jewish National Fund of using tree-planting to cover ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages in what is today Israel.
Harris, however, was one of the first US officials to use the word “ceasefire” while calling for a truce in Gaza in May.
With the outbreak of the war last year, she showed compassion for Palestinians killed by Israel in the conflict.
“It is absolutely tragic when there is ever, anywhere, any loss of innocent life, of innocent civilians, of children,” she said in November.
But when asked specifically about an Israeli attack that killed dozens of people in Jabalia, she said: “We are not telling Israel how it should conduct this war. And so, I’m not going to speak to that.”
‘I’m willing to be won over’
US-manufactured and supplied bombs have continued to fall on people across Gaza since then, with a suffocating Israeli blockade deepening the humanitarian crisis there.
On Thursday, dozens of US medical professionals who worked in Gaza penned a letter to Harris, Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, describing the deteriorating situation in the territory.
“With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured or both,” they wrote.
The doctors and nurses shared harrowing details of the impact of Israel’s war, including widespread malnourishment, ailments and children shot in the head and chest regularly arriving for treatment.
For many Palestinian rights advocates, ending this nightmare takes precedence over other issues. They say they are willing to vote for the vice president if she reconsiders the US’s unconditional support for Israel.
“While nice words don’t bring back our dead, actions now can save the living,” YL Al-Sheikh, a Palestinian American writer and organiser active with the Democratic Socialists of America, told Al Jazeera.
“And so it is not too late to save the rest of Gaza, and it’s not too late to turn the tide for Palestine because we’re not going to go anywhere. They’re going to have to contend with us. So, I think that there’s certainly a degree to which we are going to be receptive to change, and that we should demand that.”
Abdelhadi, the sociologist, also expressed readiness to vote for Harris if she changes the US approach to Israel.
“I’m willing to be won over. However, she hasn’t won me over yet, and only material changes can win me over,” Abdelhadi told Al Jazeera.
For his part, Habash called for urgency from Harris to address the issue.
“There are a lot of people who want to find a way to support the eventual Democratic nominee, but it’s the vice president’s responsibility to earn those votes at this moment,” he told Al Jazeera.
Then-Senator Kamala Harris speaks at the 2017 AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC [Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo]
Condemning protesters
Hours before meeting Netanyahu, Harris released a statement condemning demonstrators who had rallied in Washington, DC, to protest against the Israeli prime minister’s speech to Congress.
A few protesters had brought down the American flag at Union Station, near the Capitol, and sprayed graffiti in the area. But the overwhelming majority of demonstrators were peaceful.
Harris denounced what she called “despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fuelled rhetoric” at the anti-Netanyahu demonstration.
“I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: Anti-Semitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation,” the vice president said in a statement.
Activists accused Harris’s statement of lacking nuance and failing to acknowledge what the demonstrators had gathered to reject: the falsehood-filled speech of a leader accused of war crimes.
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court are currently seeking a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest over what they describe as “crimes against humanity”.
The @VP is *clear* about the pro-Hamas protestors:
“I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews.”
Given that context, Barmada, the Washington-based organiser, called Harris’s statement about the protesters “disturbing”.
She said Harris used the actions of a few individuals to “smear the credibility of legitimate protesters who have legitimate concerns with our tax dollars being used for things that violate American constitutional law, like funding a genocide”.
Before condemning the protesters and calling them “pro-Hamas”, Harris’s camp hit another familiar pro-Israel note.
Earlier this week, her husband Doug Emhoff told Jewish Democratic groups: “Vice President Harris has been and will be a strong supporter of Israel as a secure democratic and Jewish state, and she will always ensure that Israel can defend itself — period. That’s who Kamala Harris is.”
Samra’a Luqman, an Arab American activist in the key swing state of Michigan, told Al Jazeera that Harris represents the status quo.
“She will effectively continue arming Israel even as they act with impunity while paying lip service to try to win the election,” Luqman said.
US president says it’s time to ‘pass the torch’ to younger voices that ‘defence of democracy’ is more important than personal ambition.
United States President Joe Biden has made his first public address since dropping his re-election bid, saying he pulled out of the race against Republican challenger Donald Trump to unite his party and save the country’s democracy.
The 81-year-old politician struck a sombre tone on Wednesday as he sat behind the Resolute Desk at the Oval Office of the White House, and announced that it was “time to pass the torch” to younger voices.
The decision, which Biden first announced on Sunday, followed weeks of pressure from top allies in the Democratic Party after his halting performance against Trump in late June. His withdrawal has upended the already unprecedented race and thrust Vice President Kamala Harris into the spotlight as the Democratic party’s heir apparent to take on Trump in November.
Here are five takeaways from Biden’s 11-minute speech:
‘Defense of democracy’
Biden did not mention Trump during his address, but it was clear that the Democratic incumbent was referring to the former president when he said the future of the country’s democracy was at stake in the upcoming election.
“I revere this office, but I love my country more,” Biden said in the opening minutes of his speech. “It’s been the honour of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it is more important than any title.”
The US was at an “inflection point”, he said, adding that the upcoming months will “determine the fate of our nation and the world”.
“We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy? In this moment, we can see those we disagree with, not as enemies, but as fellow Americans. Can we do that?”
‘Pass the torch’
Biden said his “record as president, our leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term,” but that he was pulling out of the presidential race to unite his party.
“Nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition,” he said. “The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America – lies in your hands.”
He added that “there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life” but that “there’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now”.
“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That is the best way to unite our nation,” he said.
Praise for Harris
Biden took a moment to thank Harris, who he has endorsed to be the Democratic presidential candidate.
“I’ve made my choice,” he said. “She’s experienced. She’s tough. She’s capable,” he said of Harris. “She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country.”
He said it would be up to Americans to make the choice come November.
Next six months
In an apparent rebut of Republican calls to resign, Biden said he will spend the rest of his term “focused on doing my job as President”.
He spent a considerable portion of the speech listing off policy initiatives of his administration, including efforts to boost the economy, build infrastructure, protect civil rights, restore ties with international allies, and to counter gun violence.
He called his time as president “privilege of my life”.
“Nowhere on earth could a kid with a stutter from the modest beginnings of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office as president of the United States,” he said.
The US Department of Justice reports that it disrupted a Russian-government-backed, AI-enabled propaganda campaign to use a bot farm to spread disinformation.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has disrupted a Russian operation that used fake social media accounts enhanced by artificial intelligence to covertly spread pro-Kremlin messages in the US and abroad, it said.
The news on Tuesday comes four months before the US presidential election, which security experts widely believe will be the target of both hacking and covert social media influence attempts by foreign adversaries. Senior US officials have said publicly that they are monitoring for schemes intended to disrupt the vote.
The DOJ secured court approval to seize two domain names and search nearly 1,000 social media accounts allegedly associated with the effort.
“With these actions, the Justice Department has disrupted a Russian-government-backed, AI-enabled propaganda campaign to use a bot farm to spread disinformation in the United States and abroad,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Tuesday’s action marked the first time the US has publicly accused a foreign government of using generative AI in a foreign influence operation, according to DOJ and FBI officials. US officials have warned that adversaries may use the growing power of AI systems to scale up efforts to spread misinformation.
Kremlin-funded effort
The alleged operation, according to prosecutors, was created through a private intelligence organisation based in Russia staffed by Russian intelligence officers and a senior employee of the Moscow-based, government-funded news outlet Russia Today, or RT. The effort was approved and funded by the Kremlin in early 2023, according to the DOJ.
Spokespersons for the Russian embassy in Washington and RT did not respond to requests for comment.
This private organisation had designed a custom, AI-powered platform to create, control and manage hundreds of fake social accounts, which were made to look like those of real Americans, according to court documents.
The accounts on social media platform X have since been banned. They commonly posted pro-Kremlin talking points, including videos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and criticised the Ukrainian government.
The US worked with Dutch authorities on the investigation. The campaign was run from a server in the Netherlands, according to investigators.
ByteDance said US government prefers to shut down than work on an ‘effective solution’ to protect US users.
TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance have urged a United States court to strike down a law they say will ban the popular short video app in the US on January 19 next year.
In details released on Thursday, the two companies said the US government has refused to engage in any serious settlement talks since 2022.
Legislation signed in April by President Joe Biden gives ByteDance until January of next year to divest TikTok’s US assets or face a ban on the app used by 170 million Americans. ByteDance says a divestiture is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally”.
ByteDance recounted lengthy negotiations between the company and the US government that it says abruptly ended in August 2022. The company also made public a redacted version of a 100-plus page draft national security agreement to protect US TikTok user data and says it has spent more than $2bn on the effort.
The draft agreement included giving the US government a “kill switch” to suspend TikTok there at the government’s sole discretion if the company did not comply with the agreement and the draft says the US demanded that TikTok’s source code be moved out of China.
“This administration has determined that it prefers to try to shut down TikTok in the United States and eliminate a platform of speech for 170 million Americans, rather than continue to work on a practical, feasible, and effective solution to protect US users through an enforceable agreement with the US government,” TikTok lawyers wrote the Justice Department in an April 1 email made public on Thursday.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the email but said last month the law “addresses critical national security concerns in a manner that is consistent with the First Amendment and other constitutional limitations”. It said it would defend the legislation in court.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hold oral arguments on lawsuits filed by TikTok and ByteDance along with TikTok users on September 16. TikTok’s future in the US may rest on the outcome of the case, which could impact how the US government uses its new authority to clamp down on foreign-owned apps.
“This law is a radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet, and sets a dangerous precedent allowing the political branches to target a disfavored speech platform and force it to sell or be shut down,” ByteDance and TikTok argued in asking the court to strike down the law.
Driven by worries among US lawmakers that China could access data on Americans or spy on them with the app, the measure was passed overwhelmingly in Congress just weeks after being introduced.
Free speech rights
Lawyers for a group of TikTok users who have filed a lawsuit to prevent the app from being banned said the law would violate their free speech rights. In a filing on Thursday, they argued it is clear there are no imminent national security risks because the law “allows TikTok to continue operating through the rest of this year – including during an election that the very president who signed the bill says is existential for our democracy.”
TikTok says any divestiture or separation – even if technically possible – would take years, and it argues that the law runs afoul of Americans’ free speech rights.
Further, it says the law unfairly singles out TikTok for punitive treatment and “ignores many applications with substantial operations in China that collect large amounts of US user data, as well as the many US companies that develop software and employ engineers in China”.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump was blocked by the courts in his bid to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, a unit of Tencent, in the US.
The White House says it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds, but not a ban on TikTok. Earlier this month, Trump joined TikTok and has recently raised concerns about a potential ban.
The law prohibits app stores like those of Apple and Alphabet’s Google from offering TikTok. It also bars internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless it is divested by ByteDance.
The space capsule will carry a two-person team to the International Space Station (ISS).
The launch countdown for Boeing’s new Starliner space capsule on its inaugural crewed test flight has been halted, postponing the mission for at least 24 hours.
The postponement was announced during a live NASA webcast on Saturday.
Earlier, launch forecasts had called for a 90 percent chance of favourable weather conditions.
However, less than four minutes prior to liftoff, a ground system computer triggered an automatic abort command that paused the countdown clock, according to mission officials.
The reason for the halt remains unclear.
.@NASA, @BoeingSpace , and @ulalaunch (United Launch Alliance) scrubbed today’s launch opportunity due to the computer ground launch sequencer not loading into the correct operational configuration after proceeding into terminal count. The ULA team is working to understand the… pic.twitter.com/pKkS6cdxYO
— NASA Space Operations (@NASASpaceOps) June 1, 2024
The CST-200 Starliner’s first voyage carrying two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to the International Space Station (ISS) has been highly anticipated and much-delayed as Boeing scrambles to gain a greater share of lucrative NASA business now dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Mission commander Wilmore had earlier given a short but rousing speech telling tens of thousands of people tuning into the live feed that “It’s a great day to be proud of your nation”.
A May 6 countdown was also halted just two hours before launch time over a faulty pressure valve on the Atlas upper stage, followed by weeks of further delays caused by other engineering problems, since resolved, on the Starliner itself.
A backup date is available for Sunday, but it is not yet known whether the spaceship will be ready to launch.
The first attempt by Boeing to send an uncrewed Starliner to the space station in 2019 failed due to software and engineering glitches. But a second try in 2022 succeeded, paving the way for efforts at getting the first crewed test mission off the ground.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, wearing Boeing spacesuits, wave as they prepare to depart the Neil A Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Kennedy Space Center in Florida [Miguel J Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP]
Boeing’s struggles
Boeing, whose commercial plane operations are in disarray after several sequential crises, badly needs a win in space for its Starliner venture, a programme several years behind schedule with more than $1.5bn in cost overruns.
While Boeing has struggled, SpaceX has become a dependable taxi to orbit for NASA, which is backing a new generation of privately built spacecraft that can ferry astronauts to ISS, and in the future – under its ambitious Artemis program – to the moon and eventually Mars.
Starliner would compete head-to-head with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which since 2020 has been NASA’s only vehicle for sending ISS crew to orbit from US soil.
The flight would mark the first crewed voyage to space using an Atlas rocket since the storied family of Atlas launch vehicles first sent astronauts, including John Glenn, on orbital flights for NASA’s Mercury programme in the 1960s.
Once launched, the capsule is expected to arrive at the space station after a flight of about 26 hours and dock with the orbiting research outpost some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
Plans call for the two astronauts to remain at the space station for about a week before riding the Starliner back to Earth for a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the US southwestern desert – a first for crewed NASA missions.
Depending on the outcome of the first crewed test flight, Starliner is booked to fly at least six more crewed missions to the space station for NASA.
Singapore meeting between Lloyd Austin, Dong Jun marks first substantive face-to-face talks between the two nations in 18 months.
The defence chiefs of the United States and China have held rare direct talks in Singapore, offering hope that further military dialogue could help prevent disputes over Taiwan and the South China Sea from spinning out of control.
Lloyd Austin and Dong Jun met early on Friday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue to hold their first substantive face-to-face discussion in 18 months.
They began the talks at the luxury hotel hosting the security forum, according to officials. The meeting followed a video conference call in April.
Defence chiefs and officials from around the world are attending the annual forum that has in recent years become a barometer of US-China relations.
This year’s edition comes a week after China held military drills around Taiwan and warned of war over the US-backed island following the inauguration of President William Lai Ching-te, who Beijing has described as a “dangerous separatist”.
The dispute over democratic Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory, tops the list of disagreements between the rivals.
Beijing is furious over Washington’s deepening defence ties in the Asia Pacific, particularly with the Philippines, and its regular deployment of warships and fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
In recent weeks, the Philippines hosted the largest ever joint military exercise with the US. On Thursday, China’s defence ministry strongly condemned the deployment of a US intermediate-range missile system in the northern Philippines during military drills in April, saying it “brought huge risks of war into the region”.
China views the activities as part of a decades-long US effort to contain it.
Easing friction
President Joe Biden’s administration and China have been stepping up communication to ease friction between the nuclear-armed rivals, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Beijing and Shanghai last month.
A key focus has been the resumption of military-to-military dialogue.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing were stoked further during 2023 by issues including an alleged Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over US airspace, a meeting between Taiwan’s then-president Tsai Ing-wen and Pelosi’s successor Kevin McCarthy, and American military aid for Taipei.
The two sides agreed after a summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Biden in November last year to restart high-level military talks.
That includes a communications channel between the US Asia Pacific command chief and Chinese commanders responsible for military operations near Taiwan, Japan and in the South China Sea.
Chinese and US forces have had a series of close encounters in the disputed waterway that China claims almost entirely.
Austin warned prior to Biden and Xi agreeing to resume military-to-military dialogue that accidents have the potential to spiral out of control, especially in the absence of open lines of communication between American and Chinese forces.
In a post on X early on Friday announcing his arrival in Singapore, Austin said he would meet with regional counterparts and continue his department’s work with “like-minded Indo-Pacific partners to promote our shared vision for a free and open region”.
Brunson’s 44 points gave the Knicks a 121-91 win over Pacers, while MVP Jokic led the Nuggets to victory over the Timberwolves in Game 5.
The New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets took a 3-2 lead each by winning their home games in the Eastern and Western Conference semifinal series.
Jalen Brunson scored 44 points for hosts Knicks, who routed the Indiana Pacers 121-91 in Game 5 at a star-studded Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
The Knicks, who lost Games 3 and 4 in Indianapolis, now hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. New York will attempt to clinch a berth in the Eastern Conference finals with a road win in Game 6 on Friday.
Brunson, who scored at least 40 points for the fifth time in 11 playoff games this spring, added seven assists and four rebounds in 43 minutes.
Josh Hart logged 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, and Isaiah Hartenstein pulled down 17 rebounds. Hartenstein’s 12 offensive boards tied a franchise playoff record set by Charles Oakley against the Chicago Bulls on May 15, 1994.
Alec Burks had 18 points off the bench while Miles McBride scored 17 points for the Knicks.
“To me, that’s been a trademark of the team,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of New York’s high level of energy.
“We’ve been short-handed all year and this is our way. We have to play hard as heck on every possession and we’ve got to keep doing it. So, we have to do that for 48 minutes.
“And we know if we defend and we rebound, take care of the ball, we’re going to have a good chance to win.”
Jalen Brunson has recorded his fifth 40+ point game of the postseason, the second most 40+ point games in a single postseason in Knicks playoff history. He trails Bernard King (6 – 1984).
Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic celebrated his third MVP trophy by scoring 40 points and handing out 13 assists as the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-97 in the Western Conference semifinals.
Aaron Gordon logged 18 points and 10 rebounds while Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 16 points apiece for Denver, which leads the best-of-seven series 3-2 after dropping the first two at home.
Game 6 is on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Jokic received his MVP trophy from NBA commissioner Adam Silver before tip-off, then scored 12 points in the first quarter and seven in the second to stake Denver to a 50-44 half-time lead.
Edwards attempted just eight shots in the first half, hitting only one, and he did not take a shot in the first seven-plus minutes of the third quarter. After the Nuggets grabbed a 76-63 lead, he got aggressive, hitting a layup and converting a three-point play to quickly cut the deficit to eight points.
Jokic took over the rest for the remainder of the quarter, banking in a hook shot, converting a pair of three-point plays and making two more free throws to put Denver ahead 88-74 heading into the fourth.
Jokic finished the third with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting.
Minnesota made a last push to get within 101-90, but Murray hit three shots in the final minutes to seal the win.
Christian Braun scored 10 points off the bench for Denver.
Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic was awarded the NBA MVP trophy before the game in Denver [David Zalubowski/AP]
Washington, DC – A Gaza-focused campus protest movement in the United States has highlighted a generational divide on Israel, experts say, with young people’s willingness to challenge politicians and college administrators on display nationwide.
The opinion gap – with younger Americans generally more supportive of Palestinians than the generations that came before them – poses a risk to 81-year-old Democratic President Joe Biden’s re-election chances, they argue.
It could also threaten the bipartisan backing that Israel enjoys in Washington.
“We’re already seeing evidence of a generation divide on Israel, and that is going to be a long-term issue for the Democratic Party,” said Omar Wasow, assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley.
“These protests accelerate that generation gap,” Wasow told Al Jazeera.
Students at Columbia University in New York set up a Palestine solidarity encampment last week, and they have since faced arrests and other disciplinary measures after the college administration called on police to clear the protest.
Yet, despite the crackdown, similar encampments have sprung up across the US, as well as in other countries.
Footage of students, professors and journalists being violently detained by officers on various campuses spurred outrage but has done little to slow the momentum of the protests, which have continued to spread.
‘Inflection moment’
The students are largely demanding that their universities disclose their investments and withdraw any funds from weapons manufacturers and firms involved with the Israeli military.
Politicians from both major US parties, as well as the White House and pro-Israel groups, have accused the students of fuelling anti-Semitism – allegations that protesters vehemently deny.
Eman Abdelhadi, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, said younger people are growing increasingly frustrated with the status quo on domestic and foreign policy issues.
“I think there’s a real disaffection with the older generation, but more importantly with the system that they’re running,” said Abdelhadi.
She added that the protests mark an “inflexion moment” in US public opinion more broadly.
“In American history in general, usually the big shifts in public opinion have either coincided with or been triggered by large student movements,” Abdelhadi told Al Jazeera.
She said campus activism can be the basis of political change. “There’s a sort of sense that this is the future.”
People demonstrate at a protest near an encampment in support of Palestinians in Gaza at George Washington University in Washington, DC, April 26 [Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters]
Biden’s woes
For years, public opinion polls in the US suggest that younger people are more likely to be sympathetic towards Palestinians and critical of Israel.
But Americans overall have grown more critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, including in the ongoing war on Gaza.
Multiple polls suggest that a majority of US respondents back a permanent ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian enclave, where Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians since the conflict broke out on October 7.
But Biden has maintained staunch support for Israel, the US’s top Middle East ally, amid the war.
The 81-year-old president’s stance could be politically costly, as Biden faces a tough re-election bid in a November election that is expected to pit him against his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
Polls suggest that Biden will need to appeal to his Democratic Party base, which is not as united in support of Israel as the Republican Party.
Angus Johnston, a historian of US student activism, explained that the generational divide on Israel is especially pronounced among Democrats.
“On a national level, we have seen this for a while as a disconnect between the values of young voters and most Democratic politicians,” Johnston told Al Jazeera.
“And what we’re seeing now is a similar disconnect between young people on campus and many of the administrators who run these campuses, along with alumni and donors.”
Abdelhadi, the sociologist, added that the heavy-handed law enforcement approach to the Gaza solidarity protests has undercut Democrats’s argument that electing Biden would protect the nation from Trump, whom they accuse of authoritarianism.
“The reality is the Democrats have been telling us that young people need to save democracy and that people of colour need to save democracy and that any quibbles with this current administration need to be put aside in order to save democracy,” she told Al Jazeera.
“But where’s the democracy when you have state troopers beating up students and faculty for protesting, and the White House saying nothing about that?”
Wasow also said the protests and crackdown against them could add to the apathy towards Biden.
“The Democrats can’t really afford to give people more reasons to vote against Biden, and this actually becomes one.”
Policy change
The student protesters are not getting involved in US partisan politics, however. They instead have stressed that their demands aim to help protect the human rights of Palestinians.
So can the demonstrations help bring about changes to US policy and achieve their divestment demands?
Johnston, the historian, said it is unlikely that US colleges will divest from large firms and the defence industry in the short term, but the call for transparency in their investments is reasonable.
He added that long-term change is possible, but it will not come overnight.
“We have seen over and over again that student organising does change policy, not always quickly, and not always in the ways that the students would have hoped,” Johnston said.
“But we do see that when student organising rises to a certain level of intensity, it can have a significant effect.”
For example, he said college activism against apartheid in South Africa began in the 1950s and grew over the years.
“I think that there is no question that the anti-apartheid campus organising of the 1980s was a significant piece of what shifted American popular opinion and political opinion on the South African regime,” he said.
Wasow, who studied the 1960s civil rights protests, also said demonstrations could shift public opinion, help grow political coalitions around a cause, and build civic capacity to advance an issue.
“If what’s happening now doesn’t result in any kind of policy change but does result in a generation of young people developing some kind of civic capacity around activism around these issues, I think that would continue to have effects in the long term.”
