Kamala Harris' Press Release About Donald Trump's Fox News Appearance Is Going Viral

BuzzFeed
Thu, 25 July 2024


Well, let's start off by stating the obvious: The last week/month/year has been wild.

Kamala Harris has spent the past week campaigning as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Montinique Monroe / Getty Images


Donald Trump has also been on the campaign trail.


WXII/ Twitter: @DaVonteMcKenith

He caught up on President Biden's speech on his plane last night.


Twitter: @margommartin

This morning, he called into Fox News.


Fox/ Twitter: @atrupar

Kamala released a press release about Trump's Fox News interview, and it's going viral:

Twitter: @alex_abads

In it, she calls Trump "old and quite weird?"


Twitter: @Nagler

People can't believe it's real.

Twitter: @JoyceWhiteVance

"Something about the question mark after 'old and quite weird' is taking me out," this person said.


Twitter: @charlotteirene8

"This campaign is gonna be fun again," another person commented.



Twitter: @ElieNYC

It will surely be a long four months, but I'm enjoying this messiness.

the bullet point of "Trump is old and quite weird?" is killing me https://t.co/HaKW3McSRS

— edie olmsted (@edieocre) July 25, 2024

Twitter: @edieocre

Let's see what happens next!

How Trump is referring to Harris now that she's the presumptive Democratic nominee — and how her campaign is hitting back

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer
Thu, 25 July 2024 

Scroll back up to restore default view.

Donald Trump said Thursday that he expected Vice President Kamala Harris would eventually become the Democratic nominee after President Biden’s halting performance in last month’s debate.

"I knew there was a palace coup going on, and I assumed that she'd be probably getting it," Trump said in a phone interview on "Fox & Friends." "She had the advantage."
This was the Harris campaign’s rapid response

Following the interview, the Harris campaign sent out a statement on what it called “a 78-year-old criminal’s Fox News appearance.”

“After watching Fox News this morning we only have one question, is Donald Trump OK?” the statement said before listing its takeaways. Among them: “Trump is old and quite weird” and “This guy shouldn’t be president ever again.”

Trump is workshopping his nicknames

Trump at a rally in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

At a rally last Saturday, a day before Biden announced his decision to drop out of the race and endorse Harris, Trump riffed on Harris’s laugh.

“I call her 'Laughing Kamala,'" Trump said. "You ever watch her laugh? She's crazy. You can tell a lot by a laugh. No, she's crazy. She's nuts."

In the days since, Trump has trotted out other various disparaging nicknames for her — “Lyin’” and “Crooked,” to name two — and tried painting her as an “ultra-liberal.”

“Kamala Harris has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe,” he said at a rally in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday. “So now we have a new victim to defeat: Lyin’ Kamala Harris.”

But Trump — whose use of nicknames for his political opponents is well documented — has yet to land on a consistent one for Harris, who on Monday said she had secured enough delegate support to be the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

In a fundraising email sent this week by the Trump campaign, the former president referred to Harris as “COMMIE-LA” and falsely claimed the vice president is “serving as the FAKE Commander-in-Chief.”

Then there’s the debate over the debate

Harris at a campaign event in Indianapolis on Wednesday. (Jon Cherry/Reuters)

In a separate email blast, Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, insisted he is “furious” that he won’t get to debate Harris, who he called the “WORST Vice President in this country’s history.”

“Instead, I’ll go up against whomever the Democrat elitists anoint in their smoke-filled back room,” Vance said. “But no matter which far-left radical they trot out to take me on … I will WIPE THE FLOOR with them.”

On Truth Social earlier this week, Trump said he is willing to debate Harris, but suggested the event be hosted by Fox News instead of ABC.

“ABC Fake News is such a joke, among the absolute WORST in the business,” Trump wrote in a post that was filled with disparaging nicknames. “They try to make Crooked Joe into a brave warrior because he didn’t have the ‘guts’ to fight it out — He quit! They then tried to make ‘Sleepy’ look like a great President - he was the WORST, and Lyin’ Kamala into a competent person, which she is not. ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, is not worthy of holding a Debate, of which I hope there will be many! MAGA2024.

Fact check: Trump made at least 10 false claims about Kamala Harris in a single rally speech

Daniel Dale, CNN
Thu, 25 July 2024 



Former President Donald Trump made at least 10 false claims about Vice President Kamala Harris in his first campaign rally since she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Trump, speaking in North Carolina, attacked Harris at length with a flurry of assertions about her personal and political past, her record as vice president and her policy stances. We’re still looking into some of his claims, but at least 10 were wrong.

Here is a fact check.

Harris and the retirement age

Discussing Social Security, Trump claimed of President Joe Biden and Harris: “They’re talking about, he was talking, she’s talking about – lifting the retirement age.”

Facts First: This claim is false about Harris. She has not spoken in favor of raising the age for receiving Social Security retirement benefits. (Biden did, as a US senator in the 2000s and prior, express support for or openness to raising the retirement age, but he has been a vocal opponent of the idea as president.)

Harris has supported increasing, not reducing, Social Security benefits. In 2019, about two years before she became vice president, she co-sponsored a bill from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, called the Social Security Expansion Act, that would boost Social Security benefits by raising payroll taxes on high earners.

Harris and abortion

Trump said, “She wants abortions in the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy, that’s fine with her, right up until birth, and even after birth – the execution of a baby.”

Facts First: Trump’s claim that Harris supports the execution of babies after birth is false. She has never said anything to endorse post-birth murder, which is illegal everywhere in the country; Trump has frequently claimed that some Democratic states allow such post-birth executions, but that claim is false, too.

Harris, a vocal supporter of abortion rights, has declined to endorse specific limits on how late in a pregnancy an abortion should be permitted to occur. According to data published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just 0.9% of reported abortions in 2020 occurred at 21 weeks gestation or later. Many of these abortions occur because of serious health risks or lethal fetal anomalies.

Harris has called for legislation restoring the protections of the Roe v. Wade decision that was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022; Roe allowed states to restrict abortion after the point of fetal viability, often considered to be around 23 to 24 weeks gestation, with exceptions for abortions necessary to protect the patient’s life or health. As a senator and vice president, Harris has supported a bill that would, like Roe, ensure abortion was available at least until fetal viability – and would also prohibit various state policies that make the process of providing or obtaining an abortion more onerous.

Asked about Trump’s comments, the Trump campaign provided various examples of Harris taking liberal positions on abortion policy and declining to endorse specific limits - but nothing to substantiate the claim that she supports “the execution of a baby” after birth.

Harris and red meat

Trump claimed, “Kamala even wants to pass laws to outlaw red meat to stop climate change.”

Facts First: This is false. Harris has never expressed support for passing laws to outlaw red meat. At a CNN climate change town hall in 2019, when she was running in the Democratic presidential primary, she expressed support for changing dietary guidelines to try to encourage Americans to reduce their consumption of red meat, but she also said “I love cheeseburgers from time to time” and that she favored using “incentives” and education to encourage healthy eating.

After mentioning sodas and foods with copious sugar, Harris said in this same town hall answer that “the balance that we have to strike here, frankly, is about what government can and should do around creating incentives and then banning certain behaviors.” The phrase “banning certain behaviors” opened the door to claims that she wants to ban red meat. But she immediately proceeded to her comments about how she enjoys cheeseburgers and favors incentives to prod changes in behavior – making clear in context that she was expressing support for incentives rather than bans.

Asked about Trump’s claim about Harris wanting to outlaw red meat, the Trump campaign provided two citations that did not substantiate it: a YouTube video of Harris’ comments that was correctly titled “Kamala Harris Wants The Government To Create ‘Incentives’ For Americans to Eat Less Meat” and an article headlined, “Flashback: Kamala Harris said she would support eating less meat if elected president.”

Harris and Trump’s legal cases

Trump has claimed for months that Biden secretly orchestrated his criminal and civil legal cases. This time, he directed the claim at Harris. He said, “But it was all headed up by her. Because she’s a prosecutor.”

Facts First: This is false. There is simply no basis for claiming that Harris “headed up” the legal cases against him. Trump has never presented any evidence for this claim that Biden was the hidden hand behind his cases, let alone for suddenly switching the claim to make it about the vice president after months of saying it about the president.

There is no sign that Harris had any role in bringing charges against Trump in Manhattan, New York (where he was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records) or Fulton County, Georgia (where an election subversion case against Trump is on hold); those prosecutions have been led by elected local district attorneys. Trump’s two federal cases, one dismissed by a judge earlier this month, were brought by a special counsel, Jack Smith. Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden appointee, but that is not proof that Biden orchestrated the prosecutions – and certainly not proof that Harris did.

Harris’ immigration role

Trump claimed of Harris: “She was the border czar, but she never went to the border.”

Facts First: Trump made two false claims here. First, Harris did go to the border as vice president, in Texas in mid-2021; many Republicans had criticized Harris prior to the visit for not having gone, and some later argued that she didn’t go frequently enough, but the claim that she “never” went has not been true for more than three years. Second, Harris was never made Biden’s “border czar,” a label the White House has always emphasized is inaccurate. In reality, Biden gave Harris a more limited immigration-related assignment in 2021, asking her to lead diplomacy with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in an attempt to address the conditions that prompted their citizens to try to migrate to the United States.

Some Republicans have scoffed this week at assertions that Harris was never the “border czar,” noting on social media that news articles sometimes described Harris as such. But those articles were wrong. Various news outlets, including CNN, reported as early as the first half of 2021 that the White House emphasized that Harris had not been put in charge of border security as a whole, as “border czar” strongly suggests, and had instead been handed a diplomatic task related to Central American countries.

A White House “fact sheet” in July 2021 said: “On February 2, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order that called for the development of a Root Causes Strategy. Since March, Vice President Kamala Harris has been leading the Administration’s diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.”

Biden’s own comments at a March 2021 event announcing the assignment were slightly more muddled, but he said he had asked Harris to lead “our diplomatic effort” to address factors causing migration in the three “Northern Triangle” countries (he also mentioned Mexico that day). Biden listed factors in these countries he thought had led to migration and said that “if you deal with the problems in-country, it benefits everyone.” And Harris’ comments that day were focused squarely on “root causes.”

Republicans can fairly say that even “root causes” work is a border-related task. But calling her “border czar” goes too far.

Harris and the number of migrants

Trump claimed that Harris “allowed 20 million illegal aliens to stampede into our country from all over the world.”

Facts First: Leaving aside Trump’s claim about Harris’ own responsibility for migration levels, the“20 million” figure is false, a major exaggeration. The total number of “encounters” at the northern and southern border from February 2021 through June 2024, at both legal ports of entry and in between those ports, was about 10 million – and an “encounter” does not mean a person was let into the country; some people encountered are promptly sent away.

Even if you added the estimated number of Biden-era “gotaways” (people who evaded the Border Patrol to enter illegally), which House Republicans said in May was nearly two million, “the totals would still be vastly smaller than 15, 16 or 18 million,” Michelle Mittelstadt, spokesperson for the Migration Policy Institute think tank, said in late June after Trump used those figures.

The “encounters” figures can’t be described as figures on people successfully entering the US. Some encounters involve people who are deemed inadmissible at legal ports and are refused permission to enter. Also, the same person can be “encountered” multiple times if they keep returning to the border to try again – which is what happened in many cases under Biden when the Title 42 rapid-expulsion authority invoked by Trump during the Covid-19 pandemic was in place into May 2023.

Harris and fentanyl deaths

Shortly after claiming there is a “Kamala Harris invasion” of the border, Trump said, “We’re losing 300,000 people a year through fentanyl that comes through our border.”

Facts First: Trump’s “300,000” claim is false. The number of US overdose deaths in 2023 involving synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, was approximately 75,000, according to estimated and provisional data published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said in May that roughly 107,500 people in the US died from a drug overdose involving any kind of drug in 2023; even that larger number is nowhere close to Trump’s “300,000.”

When Trump made similar “300,000” claims earlier this year, Dr. Andrew Kolodny, medical director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University, said “I have no idea where Trump is getting ‘300,000’ from and called it “a made-up number.”

While Kolodny said it’s likely that the number of US overdose deaths is undercounted, there is no apparent basis for Trump’s insistence that the real number is nearly triple the reported number. And Kolodny said the undercount issue is centered not on overdoses from illicit fentanyl smuggled across the southern border but on seniors’ overdoses from accidentally taking too much of their legal prescription medications.

It is also worth noting that fentanyl is largely smuggled by US citizens through legal ports of entry rather than by migrants sneaking into the country.

CNN’s Jen Christensen contributed to this item.

Harris and the Jewish community

Trump criticized Harris for not attending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Wednesday speech to Congress (though Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, also did not attend); Harris, who is planning to hold a meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday, traveled to Indianapolis on Wednesday to give a previously scheduled speech to a historically Black sorority.

That’s fair game for criticism. But Trump said after criticizing Harris’ absence: “Even if you’re against Israel or you’re against the Jewish people, show up and listen to the concept. But she’s totally against the Jewish people.”

Facts First: Trump’s claim that Harris is “totally against the Jewish people” is nonsense. Harris has been married to a Jewish man, Doug Emhoff, for nearly 10 years – and she has repeatedly denounced antisemitism, expressed fondness for the Jewish community and its traditions, complimented Israel at length, and endorsed “America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel.” Though she has sometimes been pointedly critical of the actions of Israel’s government during the war in Gaza, drawing criticism from conservative Jews and others, there is no evidence she has a general antipathy toward “the Jewish people” as Trump claimed.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service reported this week: “Over the course of her life and career, she has been surrounded by Jews, from her schoolmates to her colleagues to her closest family members. That background has given Harris, 59, an easy familiarity with Jewish spaces, say those who have interacted with her. She has also encouraged Emhoff to embrace his Jewish identity as the second gentleman; for the first time, mezuzahs have been installed at the vice presidential residence, and Emhoff has taken a leading role in the administration’s efforts to fight antisemitism.”

Harris and the bar exam

Trump claimed that Harris, a lawyer who was elected as San Francisco’s district attorney and then as California’s attorney general, “failed her law exams.” Then he continued, “You know that? She couldn’t pass her bar. She couldn’t pass her bar exams…Does anyone know that? … But she’s gonna be a great president, right? No, she couldn’t pass her bar exams. She couldn’t pass anything. Couldn’t pass everything. She couldn’t pass anything.”

Facts First: It’s not true that Harris “couldn’t pass anything.” She did fail on her first attempt to pass the bar exam, according to The New York Times, but then succeeded. She was admitted to the California bar in 1990, the year after she graduated from law school.

Trump could fairly say that Harris couldn’t initially pass the bar exam, but his rally comments made it sound like she never passed at all.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

FBI Is Not Fully Convinced Trump Was Struck by a Bullet

Zachary Folk
Wed, 24 July 2024

Chris Kleponis/Getty

FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed during a marathon testimony on Wednesday that investigators still do not know if former President Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet or a piece of shrapnel during his attempted assassination.

Twice during the hours-long session, Wray told lawmakers that the FBI was still working to determine what exactly struck the former president on his right ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “My understanding is that either it [a bullet] or some shrapnel is what grazed his ear,” Wray told Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA).

Later during the hearing, Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked Wray if investigators knew where all eight bullets fired by Thomas Crooks ended up after the shooting.

“There is some question about whether or not it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear, so it is conceivable, as I sit here right now, I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else,” Wray testified.

Jordan did not follow up with any questions about the shrapnel.

Trump Says He ‘Took a Bullet for Democracy’ at Michigan Campaign Speech

Speaking at the Republican National Convention just days after the assassination attempt, Trump said the bullet “came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life.”

“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear,” the former president described the scene.

Trump’s former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), later told a conservative talk show that he examined the wound in the days immediately after the shooting. “It [the bullet] was far enough away from his head that there was no concussive effect from the bullet, and it just took the top of his ear off.”



As the investigation into the assassination attempt continues, Wray offered the committee some new insights—including the revelation that Crooks tried to research how far away the shooter was from former President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated in 1963.

Trump responded with a post on Truth Social while the hearing was still taking place, calling for Wray to resign—but not for anything he said about the assassination attempt. Instead, Trump lambasted the FBI director for claiming that he found his interactions with President Biden “uneventful and unremarkable.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.


New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Just 28% of Americans say assassination attempt 'changed Trump for the better'

Presidential candidates tend to enjoy a post-convention 'bounce' — but Trump remains tied with Kamala Harris at 46%.

Andrew Romano
·National Correspondent
Wed, 24 July 2024 


Former President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally on July 20 in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Evan Vucci/AP)

One of the major themes of last week’s Republican National Convention was that the party’s three-time nominee, former President Donald Trump, had been transformed — in a good way — by the assassination attempt a few days earlier in Butler, Pa.

“When Trump stood up after being shot in the face, bloodied, and put his hand up — that was a transformation,” conservative pundit Tucker Carlson said while onstage in Milwaukee. “Everything was different after that moment. Everything. This convention is different. The nation is different. The world is different. Donald Trump is different.”

But according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, most Americans disagree. Just 28% say that the shooting has changed Trump “for the better” — while a majority (51%) say either that it hasn’t changed him at all (44%) or that it has changed him “for the worse” (7%).

The survey of 1,743 U.S. adults was conducted from July 19 to 22, immediately following the convention. Its results suggest that one of the most eventful periods in recent U.S. history — a period that began with the assassination attempt, continued with the vice-presidential nomination of Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and ended with President Biden dropping out of the race — has had little effect on Trump’s political standing.
No convention 'bounce'

In the past, presidential candidates have tended to enjoy a post-convention “bounce.” But Trump remains stuck at 46% in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup with the current frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Vice President Kamala Harris, who also polls at 46%.

In both 2016 and 2020, Trump won less than 47% of the vote; that still appears to be his ceiling. The last time a Yahoo News/YouGov survey pitted Trump against Harris, in early July, he polled at 47% and she polled at 45%.

Trump’s favorable rating has increased slightly (from 39% to 43%) since the previous Yahoo News/YouGov survey, which was conducted after his June 27 debate with Biden. His unfavorable rating has fallen by a few points as well (from 56% to 53%).

But this mostly reflects a reversion to Trump’s normal numbers rather than some sort of new breakthrough; his favorable rating was actually higher in January (45%), March (45%) and April (44%). Republicans and Republican-leaning independents — among whom Trump’s favorable rating ticked up from 83% to 88% — account for most of the shift.

The shooting, the convention and the VP pick do appear to have had one statistically significant impact: a 5-point increase (from 21% to 26%) in the number of Americans giving Trump a “very favorable” rating, the highest level since late 2020. But again, that change occurred entirely among Republicans and Republican leaners, whose very favorable rating of Trump has risen from 49% to 58% since early July. Recent events have not improved the former president’s very favorable rating among Democrats (2%) or independents who lean toward neither party (10%).
America the polarized

To put Trump’s current numbers in perspective, then-President Ronald Reagan’s job-approval rating increased by 7 points (from 60% to 67% approve) after he was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in 1981 — with significant gains among Democrats (from 41% to 51% approve) and independents (from 61% to 69% approve ).

Partisan polarization has largely put an end to swings of that sort; most people now stick to their political “team” no matter what.


Perceptions of the recent Republican National Convention illustrate this point. Slightly more than one-third of Americans (36%) rated the RNC excellent or good — but about the same number (35%) rated it fair or poor. (Another 28% did not watch or follow the convention in any way.) Reflecting the self-contradictory nature of Trump’s speech — which toggled between calls to heal the “discord and division in our society” and attacks on “crazy Nancy Pelosi” — about one-quarter of Americans considered it mostly unifying (26%) and one-quarter considered it mostly divisive (25%). In total, just 30% of Americans watched some or all of the convention — and nearly two-thirds of them (62%) were Republicans or Republican leaners.

In other words, last week’s spectacle did not change many minds.

Perceptions of the July 13 shooting follow a similar pattern. Nearly twice as many Republicans (53%) as Democrats (28%) say they’ve followed news of the assassination attempt “very closely,” and nearly all of those who believe the shooting changed Trump for the better — a group that includes 64% of 2020 Trump voters and 62% of Republicans — already support him politically. Barely any Biden voters (4%) or Democrats (5%) agree.
Could Vance help?

When Trump offered Vance a spot on the ticket, he told the Ohio senator it was because “you can help me win … some of these Midwestern states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and so forth."

But for now, at least, Vance’s political impact is unclear. Slightly more Americans say that picking Vance was the right decision (30%) than say it was the wrong decision (25%) — but even more are not sure (45%). And while Republicans (62%) are far more likely than Democrats (9%) or independents (27%) to think Vance was the right choice, a significant share (31%) remain uncertain.

At just 39, Vance would be the youngest veep since Richard Nixon; he’s served less than two years in the U.S. Senate. Perhaps as a result, only 29% of Americans say he’s “ready to serve as president if necessary.” Forty-one percent say the same about Harris.

It remains to be seen if more exposure to Vance will help or hurt the GOP ticket. To test that question, Yahoo News and YouGov asked respondents whether they agree or disagree with eight different statements the senator has made in recent years. (The statements were edited slightly for clarity and consistency and not attributed to Vance.)



Only one of Vance’s statements earned majority agreement: We need to apply some broad based tariffs, especially on goods coming in from China. We need to protect American industries from all of the competition (61% agree, 24% disagree).

Next was Joe Biden’s open border is killing Americans (48% agree, 41% disagree).

On abortion, Vance’s old position — I would like abortion to be illegal nationally — is extremely unpopular (25% agree, 64% disagree). His newer position — I’d like abortion to be primarily a state issue. Ohio is going to want to have a different abortion policy from California, from New York — breaks even (40% agree, 42% disagree).

Finally, Americans tend not to see eye to eye with Vance on Ukraine, the 2020 election or the federal bureaucracy:

I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another (23% agree, 64% disagree)


I think the election was stolen from Trump (32% agree, 57% disagree)


An incoming president should fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state and replace them with loyal people (32% agree, 49% disagree)

____________

The Yahoo News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,743 U.S. adults interviewed online from July 19 to 22, 2024. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to Nov. 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 27% Republican). Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately 2.8%.

Were Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims accurate in his speech to US Congress?

Ruth Michaelson in Jerusalem
Wed, 24 July 2024

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress in Washington, DC.

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was filled with combative remarks, as well as claims about the war in Gaza, now almost in its tenth month.

Israel’s assault on the territory was triggered by the 7 October Hamas attacks on southern Israel, and has so far killed more than 39,000 people, with thousands more believed to be buried underneath the rubble.

Netanyahu made repeated references to the international criminal court, whose prosecutors in May issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and several senior Hamas leaders, accusing them ofwar crimes and crimes against humanity.

Here are some of the claims made by the Israeli prime minister during his speech, tested against information currently available.

Food aid for Gaza

The prosecutor of the international criminal court has shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza. This is utter, complete nonsense. It’s a complete fabrication. Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza. That’s half a million tonnes of food!

According to data from the UN, 28,018 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the war began. Routes into the territory no longer include the Rafah crossing, which Israeli forces stormed in early May, largely curtailing the aid supply into southern areas.

Since then, just 2,835 trucks have entered through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south and Erez in the north – delivering a tiny fraction of the aid needed.

Relief organisations have accused Israel of deliberately blocking aid from entering Gaza, imposing arbitrary and ever-changing restrictions on what is allowed to enter.

Sally Abi Khalil, Middle East and north Africa director for Oxfam, said in March: “Israeli authorities are not only failing to facilitate the international aid effort but are actively hindering it.”

Earlier this year, the world’s leading authority on famine, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, warned Gaza was on the brink of famine. In June, the organisation’s famine review committee said that due to an uptick in commodities allowed into northern Gaza, “the available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring”.

However, they said a high risk of famine remained. “The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic and there is a high and sustained risk of famine across the whole Gaza Strip … The prolonged nature of the crisis means that this risk remains at least as high as at any time during the past few months.”

Safeguarding civilians

The ICC prosecutor accuses Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. What in God’s green earth is he talking about? The IDF just dropped millions of flyers, sent millions of text messages, made hundreds of thousands of phone calls to get Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) do sometimes drop flyers or text Palestinians to warn them of their intention to attack an area. But such measures often fail to stop civilians being caught in a war zone, as was illustrated this week when Israeli forces issued an evacuation order affecting an estimated 400,000 people in Khan Younis.

The UN’s office for humanitarian affairs, Ocha, said: “The evacuation order was issued in the context of ongoing attacks by the Israeli military and gave no time for civilians to know from which areas they were required to leave or where they should go. Despite the evacuation order, Israeli military operations continued in and around the area unabated.”

Evacuation orders issued by the IDF mean that many people in Gaza have been forced to flee repeatedly: earlier this month, Andrea De Domenico, the head of Ocha, said 90% of Gaza’s population had been forced to flee at least once and many had been displaced as many as 10 times. While Israeli forces have labelled certain areas such as al-Mawasi as “humanitarian zones,” there have been airstrikes in areas previously designated as safe.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, estimates that more than 80% of the total land area of the Gaza Strip “has been placed under evacuation orders or designated as a no-go zone”.

Palestinians and aid organisations have repeatedly said that no place is safe in Gaza. Ocha described the mass evacuation orders as “confusing” and said Israeli forces were issuing these demands so civilians flee while intensifying attacks on these same locations or places civilians can use as escape routes.

These choices, they said, “place civilians in more danger and may increase the harm to civilians”.

Negotiations with Hamas


The war in Gaza could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders, disarms and returns all the hostages, but if they don’t, Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’s military capabilities, end its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home.

There was no mention of a ceasefire in Netanyahu’s speech, although he did make a reference to ongoing negotiations. He lauded an Israeli military operation that freed four hostages but killed at least 274 Palestinians last month.

There are an estimated 114 hostages remaining in Gaza according to recent estimates, although this includes an undisclosed number of dead captives.

Netanyahu, who promised “total victory” during his speech, has maintained that only military pressure on Hamas will push them into signing a ceasefire deal. He has also insisted that Israeli forces remain in Gaza in the long term and be able to continue fighting even if they agree to a temporary pause in hostilities.

Those with close knowledge of the hostage negotiations, a vocal chorus of Israelis and even some of the hostages’ families accuse Netanyahu of standing in the way of a deal.

A poll published by Israel’s Channel 12 News shortly before the Israeli prime minister flew to Washington, two-thirds of the Israeli public believe returning the hostages is more important than continuing the fighting in Gaza, and that Netanyahu’s “total victory” is unlikely.

“The military pressure of more than nine months only resulted in the killing of hostages and many Palestinian non-combatants. Make a deal now!” said the former Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin this month.

Israeli negotiators, he said, should conclude negotiations “and bring it to the people so that everyone will know that the prime minister is the one who is blocking the deal”.

 Wood pellets boom in the US raises health and environmental concerns

THEY ARE NOT MADE FROM WASTE WOOD BUT USABLE WOOD

Associated Press

#woodpllet #environment #unitedstates

Wood pellet production skyrocketed across the U.S. South to feed the European Union’s recent push for renewable energy but residents near manufacturing plants -- often those in poor, rural swaths -- believe the process is making people sick. 

Read more: https://bit.ly/3So4DVy 

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Gone in 30 seconds: Tech-savvy Johor car theft syndicates eye Toyota luxury models

Some Toyota car models confiscated by the police. PHOTO: POLIS JOHOR/FACEBOOK

Lok Jian Wen
UPDATED
JUL 26, 2024

Crime syndicates in Johor targeting luxury and 4x4 vehicles need just 30 seconds to make off with the cars, which are then smuggled and sold to neighbouring countries, said local police.

They use devices that can start a car’s ignition and jammers that turn off the vehicle’s alarms and Global Positioning System, said Johor police chief M. Kumar at a press briefing on July 25.

Many of these syndicates, which mainly steal cars, motorcycles and automobile spare parts, were crushed during a month-long operation from June 21 to July 21, in which numerous district police forces in Johor were involved, he said.

The police targeted car workshops, as well as automobile and spare parts sellers, among others, and arrested more than 110 men and women aged 16 to 59.

Some of those arrested were also wanted for drug offences, while around two dozen of them were found to have been involved in stealing luxury cars and motorcycles.

The thieves would operate in small groups of two or three people, using rental cars to roam estates, ungated residential communities and shopping centre car parks, said Mr Kumar.

Stolen cars would be transported to neighbouring countries by land, where a single vehicle could fetch up to RM40,000 (S$11,520) on the black market, he added, without naming specific countries.

Demand from these markets dictated which vehicles were targeted, Mr Kumar said.

He listed car models by Japanese carmaker Toyota, such as the Fortuner, Vellfire, Alphard and Hilux, as among those frequently targetted by the syndicates. Older vehicles were also in demand on the black market, as their spare parts might have become difficult to obtain, he added.

Sophisticated devices including key programmers and jammers used by the car theft syndicates. PHOTO: POLIS JOHOR/FACEBOOK

During the raids, the police confiscated more than 80 motor vehicles, including cars, a van, lorries and motorcycles, as well as bike frames and various car components. The motor vehicles are expected to be returned to their owners after investigations are completed.

Since January 2024, 69 luxury and four-wheel drive cars valued at a total of RM8.8 million (S$2.54 million) were reported lost in Johor, Mr Kumar said.

The Johor police chief urged motorists to ensure their cars were well-guarded by security systems.

INDONESIA'S NEW CAPITAL

The Importance of Upholding Ethics and Human Rights in the Development of Nusantara

Economic development in Indonesia is frequently prioritized by the government to enhance the welfare of its citizens and propel the country forward.

BYALYSSA AURELIA PRIMAYULITA
JULY 26, 2024

MODERN DIPLOMACY

image source: IKN Illustration by Ministry of Public Affairs, Indonesia

Economic development in Indonesia is frequently prioritized by the government to enhance the welfare of its citizens and propel the country forward. One of the most ambitious projects in the nation’s history is the ongoing relocation of the capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan. The objective of the new capital, Nusantara, is to foster equality across various fields, such as the economy, population distribution, and overall development (Kementerian Sekretariat Negara RI, 2024), paving the way for a prosperous future for Indonesia or Indonesia Emas 2045 (Cakti, 2024). Unfortunately, the project is not without its controversies, primarily due to concerns about human rights (Journalist IBP, 2023). It occurs to me that the development of Nusantara, the new capital city, must be carried out with a commitment to upholding human rights. Here are three key points that support this view: First, the project risks igniting conflicts with indigenous communities who feel their rights are being trampled by the government. Second, adopting a rights-based approach in this development is crucial to guarantee the protection of individual rights, social justice, sustainability, legal compliance, and broader public acceptance. Third, both the state and the companies involved have a moral and legal duty to ensure that the development of Nusantara does not infringe upon human rights.

1. Conflicts Between the Nusantara Project and Local Communities in East Kalimantan

Indigenous communities have voiced concerns about feeling intimidated, lacking official recognition, and not having sufficient access to information about the Nusantara projects. In contrast, the government asserts that the entire Nusantara development process is detailed in a master plan that includes comprehensive data such as land tenure. The government seems to regard the land designated for Nusantara as unclaimed, despite the fact that 51 indigenous communities will be affected by the project, 17 of which are in North Penajam Paser (Sucahyo, 2023).

The Balik and Paser tribes, indigenous communities in the Nusantara area, appear to be marginalized and compelled to begin new lives outside the Nusantara zone. Furthermore, the compensation process is conducted on an individual basis, which prevents residents from discussing and uniting to collectively advocate for their rights (Widadio & Budhi, 2024). According to Prof. Dr. Musta’in, an expert in Development Sociology at Airlangga University, relocating traditional villages is far more than a mere transaction. This process involves the historical background, existence, and identity of indigenous peoples. In the Nusantara development area, cultural, economic, geographical, and religious values are deeply intertwined, forming an essential part of the indigenous communities’ lives (UNAIR News, 2024).

Furthermore, the development of the new capital city in East Kalimantan has the potential to cause environmental damage and impact the human rights of local communities. According to the Authority of Nusantara New Capital City, the development of this city will prioritize the concept of a green city, for instance by creating environmentally friendly buildings and implementing circular water management systems and district cooling to achieve high efficiency and energy conservation (whatawonderfulworld.com, 2023). However, large-scale infrastructure projects like roads and housing developments can lead to deforestation and the destruction of habitats for numerous species of flora and fauna across Kalimantan. For example, Balikpapan Bay, home to 17,000 hectares of mangrove forest and the habitat of proboscis monkeys, also supports the livelihoods of 12,000 fishing families (Gokkon, 2023). Thus, the development initiatives associated with the new capital city pose a significant threat to the environment, despite government assurances of implementing a green city concept. Such environmental degradation not only disrupts ecosystems but also adversely affects the livelihoods of local communities who rely on forests and other natural resources. The right to a healthy environment is a fundamental human right, and unchecked environmental harm can jeopardize the long-term welfare of society.

Additionally, development that neglects the socio-economic impacts on local communities can exacerbate inequality and perpetuate injustice. Large-scale population relocations can disrupt established social networks, as individuals require time and support to build new connections and trust in their new surroundings (Farida, 2021). The influx of immigrants will inevitably transform the social and cultural landscape around the new government center, with both positive and negative potential outcomes. On one hand, cultural interactions can foster a more diverse and inclusive society. On the other hand, cultural differences may lead to tension and miscommunication, exacerbating social divisions. Additionally, an increasing population can heighten competition for resources such as jobs and housing, potentially leading to social unrest and higher crime rates (Syaban & Appiah-Opoku, 2023). Consequently, it is crucial that the development of Nusantara not only focuses on physical infrastructure but also addresses the social and economic impacts on local communities.

• The Necessity of a Human Rights-Based Approach for Sustainable and Inclusive Development in Nusantara

According to Peter Uvin in his article entitled “From the right to development to the rights-based approach: how ‘human rights’ entered development” (2007) which emphasized the importance of respecting and fulfilling the value of human rights in every process of development, involving inclusive participation, accountability, and transparency, particularly for the vulnerable groups such as indigenous people and the poor. All parties must be provided with complete information and security guarantee. Therefore, the stakeholders must ensure that locals, especially indigenous communities, are involved actively in the planning and implementation of development projects, so that they are not only beneficiaries but also the main actor in that process.

Rights-based approach also can encourage better environment protection. For instance, in the infrastructure development of Nusantara, the government and companies involved can do a collaboration to ensure that these projects do not damage the environment and uphold the rights of local communities. The implementation of eco-friendly technologies and sustainable development practices can mitigate the adverse effects on the environment (Febry, Akdom, & Seigneret, 2023). Involving communities in the planning and implementation of infrastructure projects ensures that they derive economic benefits while safeguarding their environment. This approach fosters sustainable economic growth and enhances the overall welfare of society.

Moreover, a rights-based approach can mitigate social and economic inequalities in Indonesia. For instance, increasing access to education and healthcare for all societal levels around IKN, irrespective of gender, can foster equity. Higher education, in particular, can provide equal career development opportunities for both men and women (Soesilowati & Salim, 2009). This in turn can enable the government to create a strong foundation by increasing productivity and innovation for long-term sustainable economic growth. Thus, a rights-based approach is not only ethical but also pragmatic from the perspective of development effectiveness.

• Moral and Legal Responsibilities in Ensuring Human Rights in Nusantara Development

Indonesian government have the obligation to protect its people human rights, including in the context of development. This can be done by establishing and enforcing regulations that ensure that development projects are carried out in an ethical and responsible manner without endangering affected communities.

Providing Free, Prior, Informed, Consent (FPIC) to indigenous people by the government is essential to ensure that they have a role in decisions that affect their lives, culture and environment. FPIC is a special right recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and is in line with their universal right to self-determination. FPIC ensures that indigenous peoples receive full information and give free and informed consent before a project begins, enabling them to be involved in every stage of a project that affects their territory (FAO, n.d.). This principle emphasizes the importance of collective consent from the entire indigenous community, not just representatives. Ensuring respect for human rights in Nusantara development is not only a matter of legal compliance, but also building trust and harmonious relations with local communities. This supports the long-term success of projects and ensures development benefits are shared equally, making it an ethical and pragmatic approach to development effectiveness.

Companies involved in Nusantara development have a responsibility to comply with the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples. CSR covers environmental, human rights and health and safety issues (Global Risk Profile, n.d.), which must be integrated into the company’s daily business practices, especially in the Nusantara development process. This requires companies to conduct careful risk assessments to identify, prevent and address negative impacts of their operations on these rights, including environmental protection and fair treatment of workers. Thus, ensuring that CSR principles and human rights are respected in Nusantara development is not only about legal compliance, but also about maintaining sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships with indigenous communities and other stakeholders.

Conclusion

These three arguments highlight that unethical development practices in Nusantara can lead to human rights violations. Employing a rights-based approach can facilitate sustainable and inclusive growth. Both nations and corporations bear the responsibility to guarantee ethical development. These principles underscore the critical need to incorporate ethics and human rights into the economic development process. Based on Amartya Sen’s opinion, development is an effort to create options for society. Development should reflect independence and freedom. According to him, freedom is not only the goal of development, but also the way to carry out development itself. Parameters such as GDP or per capita income account for only a small part of the concept of freedom. Freedom means when every individual has real choices in his life. If a person does not have a choice in managing his life, then his freedom is limited. Therefore, the integration of ethics and human rights in economic development is an important step to achieve sustainable and inclusive prosperity for all Indonesian citizens. The development of Nusantara as one of the historic projects in Indonesia must be an example of how development can be carried out by respecting human rights and maintaining environmental sustainability. In this way, Nusantara will not only be a symbol of physical progress, but will also reflect moral and social progress for Indonesia.

Alyssa Aurelia Primayulita

Alyssa Aurelia Primayulita, a master student in the department of International Relations Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I am currently focusing my study in the Global Political Economy.

REST IN POWER

John Mayall: India’s guitar stars shower love on the Godfather of British Blues

Ehsaan Noorani, Amyt Datta, Arinjoy Sarkar and Rudy Wallang share their ‘Beano album' favourites; salute the incubator of ideas that flowered within and beyond the tenets of the blues

Shantanu Datta

 Published 26.07.24

TELEGRAPH CALCUTTA


John MayallInstagram: johnmayallofficial

The blues, it is universally accepted, is immortal. So, in the passing of pioneering British musician and band leader John Mayall, whose ensembles of the 1960s acted as incubators of this essentially African American musical form, the blues lived once again.

“John Mayall gave us ninety years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain," said his family in a Facebook post announcing his death early this week. That immediately took me back to the Calcutta of the ’80s when some of us had just finished school. Presidency College, hallowed for its academic record down the ages, was the setting for my initiation into Mayall’s music, courtesy seniors with acoustic guitars, in-between statistics classes. All Your Love, with its infectious opening swipe, was the song.

That was Eric Clapton playing electric guitar on the album, Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, affectionately referred to as the “Beano album,” the debut record (1966) of this Mayall band. And we, like the rest of the world, were merely trying to emulate. For accomplished musicians of this country, Mayall has always been a benchmark. A rite of passage, just like it was for guitarists Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor; drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassists Jack Bruce, John McVie and many others.

Ehsaan Noorani, the guitar arm of the Mumbai music composing trio Shankar- Ehsaan-Loy, fondly recalls how his first blues album was in the form of a cassette recording of Mayall’s Jazz Blues Fusion, which he reckons is one of his finest. Arinjoy Sarkar of Calcutta’s Arinjoy Trio reminisces about his meeting with the legend himself in Mumbai at the Mahindra Blues Festival where, would you believe it, they were both slated to perform. Ditto for Rudy Wallang of Shillong’s Great Society and Soulmate, whose world of guitar heroes exploded with Mayall’s influence and who bumped into the legend at the Jakarta Blues Festival. Guitar guru Amyt Datta opens up about the British blues invasion and how the lines distinguishing it from its American counterpart were being blurred with Mayal and Co.



Ehsaan NooraniInstagram (@ehsaan)

One of the most progressive blues musicians ever: Ehsaan

“I have always maintained that Mayall was one of the most progressive blues musicians (I think he even had an album called Progressive Blues). He was always pushing the envelope with the form of the blues, not necessarily sticking to the 12 bar thing, which he did earlier on when he was with his own band,” says Noorani, calling in from Chicago where he is unspooling after a very successful series of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy concerts. He admits he still transcribes music from Mayall’s Jazz Blues Fusion album, a compilation of three concerts, side A featuring a gig in Boston in November, 1971, and side B a selection of tracks from two concerts in New York in December of the same year.


Aside of the "Beano album", Noorani’s go-to Mayall albums are Blues From Laurel Canyon, Jazz Blues Fusion and A Hard Core Package. “In Hard Core, he had guitarist James (Quill) Smith, who is really fantastic. If you hear the album, you’ll realise it’s out of the blues format. But it’s still like a blues album. He always had these musicians whom you’d never heard of before. As a result, his music always took on a very fresh sound, whatever the album.”



Arinjoy SarkarTT Online

He showed us all a new way of playing the blues: Arinjoy


Arinjoy Sarkar found himself thinking “end of an era” when he heard of Mayall’s demise. “He was one of those stalwarts who helped in the transition of the blues to rock ‘n’ roll, even though there were people like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley before him. But I always saw him as one who was able to bring the rock ‘n roll grit into the blues,” he says thoughtfully, explaining why he holds Mayall so dear to his heart. “He showed us all a new way of playing the blues.”


The Calcutta guitarist remembers meeting him in Mumbai in 2018 at the Mahindra Blues Festival which Mayall was headlining. “That was the year we won Band Hunt, because of which we were scheduled to play two half-hour slots. We met at the customary meet and greet before opening day. ‘We must hear you play,’ he told me when I was introduced to him. Unfortunately that did not happen, but as I shook his hand, I still remember thinking, ‘Man, this guy gave Clapton a break’. ” A lot of pictures were taken, but sadly Arinjoy doesn’t have a copy.


“For all of us guitar players, I guess the 'Beano album' has been the go-to standard,” says Arinjoy, whose playing is tilted more towards the American side of things. “I am more of the 1950-’60s Freddie King, Albert King, Joe Louis Walker kind. But whenever I have to channel a bit of rock ‘n’ roll, I look to Mayall.” Three of his songs that have left an indelible mark on Arinjoy form the core of lessons he’s designed for his students: All Your Love (Otis Rush cover, opening track), Little Girl (side A) and Double Crossing Time. “I go back to them time and again. So Mayall's playing has to be somewhere there inside of me when I am playing.”



Rudy Wallang with John MayallRudy Wallang

Nature’s Disappearing a staple in our setlist: Rudy Wallang


Wallang owes a lot to John Mayall. “It was because of him that we got to hear the greats like Eric Clapton and Peter Green, who were all my inspirations. Back in the day when I was with Great Society and we used to travel across the northeast, there would always be at least one Mayall CD in our car. He was a big part of our lives,” he says.


Circa 2012-11, Wallang’s band Soulmate is at the Jakarta Blues Festival, where, lo and behold, the legend is there too! “We got to meet Mayall right after his sound check. And that was a blessing.” Like all aspiring guitar players, Wallang too started off playing the blues and trying to copy the greats like Buddy Guy, Freddie King and Albert Collins. “As a 15-year-old, I would play a lot of Clapton, little knowing then that he also came from the blues and Mayall’s band.”


Wallang remembers playing All Your Love, knowing it then as a John Mayall song. “It was only later that we found out it was a cover of the Otis Rush song. There is another song we still do today. It’s called Nature’s Disappearing. And it’s so relevant even now. I just love the song and its message. It’s one of the staples in our setlist.”


For Wallang, it is very important to have his own voice. “I am not that much of a singer, even though I do sing. But I think I sing better through my guitar,” he says. A guitar player’s search for his tone is a work in progress. But Wallang believes that after all these years, he has been able to learn from all these greats and “find my own voice”. What was unsaid but implicit in this assertion is that somewhere deep within that confidence lay the legacy of a John Mayall.



Amyt DattaTT Online

Mayall, the master of the blues crossover: Amyt Datta


Amyt Datta sees John Mayall as iconic for the manner in which he was able to bring the blues into the mainstream. “He was one of the first British White guys to sort of adopt the blues and make it ready for people’s ears. His 'Beano album' was path-breaking in the way it introduced Eric Clapton. We used to play a lot of Clapton, his songs with Cream, Derek and Dominoes and must have also played a few Mayall numbers.”


On British and American Blues, Datta explains it simply. “The soul is the same but the mind is different, if you know what I mean,” he says, attributing this cross pollination to the advent of the Beatles in America and the American blues into Britain. “This crossover led to the lines getting blurred. American bands started imbibing punk, while the British musicians took in the blues. The stories and the themes were the same, but the British band presentations had a flavour of rock, while the Americans were ‘bluesy’ blues.”


Born in the ’60s, Datta remembers experiencing this during his early playing days. “When I was growing up this whole influx thing had already started. I was born into the blurred line,” he says, referring to the fading distinctions in the various styles of the practitioners of the blues. “Before that, till about the late ’50s, you could spot the line. You could tell an American blues player. Soon after the music really got crossed over, which to my mind, was a good thing to happen.”



John MayallInstagram: johnmayallofficial

The summing up


In his heartfelt tribute to his mentor John Mayall, Eric Clapton calls him his surrogate father. “He taught me all I really know and gave me the courage and enthusiasm to express myself without fear or without limit.”


For legions of musicians who have been influenced and inspired by the godfather of British blues, it is a time to reflect on the musical boundaries Mayall crossed, the lines Mayall helped blur. For what is the British Blues without the American Blues? The cross-pollination of style, technique and substance that Mayall helped forge within the secular traditions of the blues has left us with even richer musical experiences.


Both Amyt Datta and Ehsaan Noorani agree. “When Clapton plays the blues you can hear more elements of rock. It’s the same with, say, a Rory Gallaghar, even though, now, the blues and rock are married so tightly that you may find it difficult to identify one from the other. The rock music of Allman Brothers cannot exist without the blues elements,” notes Datta.


Noorani talks of the manner in which British musicians recognised this form of music and made it popular for the artistes from the USA. “You know Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King, BB King and Jimmy Hendrix himself. Suddenly, these artistes became big. They got recognised by US promoters as well. From playing in small dives and juke joints, they became stars that played at the Fillimore and even bigger venues. So it was very crucial in the way the British gave this music the recognition it needed,” he explains.


In the UK, thanks to Mayall and Co., even the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac started off as blues bands. “These guys took the music and interpreted it in their own ways. They would do covers of songs of the American artistes, but in a way that would lead to bands like Cream and Eric Clapton becoming ‘God’, he adds, referring to, among others, acts such as Ten Years After, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown, all big bands that were part of the British blues explosion.


Ultimately, as Datta put it, this free flow of musical ideas that flowered within and beyond the tenets of the blues, is the embodiment of a simple but profound assertion that in the end, it really doesn’t matter if you are Black or White. It’s the music that keeps shining through. And we have to thank John Mayall for that.

Post script: Why is it called the ‘Beano album’? Look at the cover and you’ll see why. Clapton is reading the British comic book.

YouTube

Bangladesh protests quelled but anger, discontent remain

Rights groups and critics say Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has become increasingly autocratic during her last 15 years in power. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

UPDATED
JUL 26, 2024

DHAKA – Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina imposed a nationwide curfew last week and used the army to quell protests against job quotas that killed nearly 150 people, but anger against her government does not seem to have abated.

The protests, which started in universities and colleges earlier in July, quickly turned into a more widespread agitation against Ms Hasina and her government.

Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and lobbed sound grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who came out on the streets. The government denied any live rounds were fired, but hospital sources said those who died and were injured had wounds from bullets and shotgun pellets.

Rights groups and critics say Ms Hasina has become increasingly autocratic during her last 15 years in power, and her rule has been marked by mass arrests of political opponents and activists, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, charges she denies.

Mr Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of Shushahoner Jonno Nagorik, a Dhaka-based civil society platform for good governance, said the protests were “just the tip of the iceberg”, and the use of force against students will breed further discontent against Ms Hasina’s government.

“People are being deprived of their basic rights, with a significant lack of human rights and justice. They can’t cast their votes freely,” he said. “This widespread frustration and anger among the people is evident in the protests.”

Government officials were not immediately available for comment. But officials have said previously no students were involved in arson or violence, and instead blamed opposition parties.

Ms Hasina, 76, first led her Awami League party to victory in elections in 1996, serving one five-year term before regaining power in 2009, never to lose again.

She won a fourth straight term in office in elections in January that were boycotted by the main opposition party and also marred by deadly protests.

While Ms Hasina managed to overcome discontent and return the country towards some normalcy this week, it will not be “business as usual” going forward, said Mr Zafar Sobhan, editor of the English daily Dhaka Tribune.

“This crisis shows that the government needs to listen to the young people of the country and take their concerns seriously,” said Mr Sobhan, adding that the quota issue served as a proxy for several other key issues.

“The government has been put on notice that enough is enough and it needs to address the legitimate concerns of the public,” he said.

Mr Asif Mahmud, a student leader, told Reuters he was abducted and abused by the authorities for four days and then dumped on the road this week. His allegations could not be independently verified and government officials could not be immediately reached for comment on a holiday.

“There have been killings. Nobody is addressing that,” Mr Mahmud said. “These murders should be investigated. Those who ran this massacre, we will demand their prompt punishment.”

The United Nations, international rights groups, the United States and Britain have criticised the use of force and asked Dhaka to uphold the right to peaceful protests.

Ms Hasina said she was forced to impose the curfew to protect citizens and state property, blaming the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami party for the violence, charges they denied.

Mr Tarique Rahman, the exiled acting chairman of BNP, said Ms Hasina was involved in “mass murder” during the protests.

Protesters clashed with Bangladesh security forces on July 19 as violence erupted over a controversial jobs quota scheme.

The daughter of the country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan, Ms Hasina has been credited with turning around the economy and the massive garments industry.

But the economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war pushed up prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn in 2023 to the International Monetary Fund for a US$6.3 billion bailout.

Experts have blamed the latest unrest on stagnant job growth in the private sector and high rates of youth unemployment that have made government jobs, with their regular wage hikes and other privileges, more attractive.

Failing to tame inflation, which currently hovers around 10 per cent, and unemployment was not due to a dearth of options but rather due to a lack of political will, the experts said.

“One critical policy approach could have been to increase investment into the services sectors like health and education where it would be possible to create more decent jobs, especially for the educated and relatively young people,” said Mr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, chairman of Dhaka think-tank Research and Policy Integration for Development.

REUTERS

Understanding recent Bangladesh protests

ON JULY 25, 2024
By Colin Stevens

The recent protests in Bangladesh regarding reform of quota in government jobs is not the first such movement. A major movement for quota reforms was waged by general students in 2018, following which all quotas for first and second tier jobs were abolished by the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. However, seven children of freedom fighters filed a writ petition in the High Court (HC) in 2021 challenging the 2018 order. While the government did oppose the petition, the HC last month overturned the 2018-decision, triggering the current protests.

The government allowed peaceful protests by the students and at the same time appealed for annulment of the HC verdict. The government also called upon the protesting students to wait till the SC delivered its verdict, initially scheduled for August 7, 2024. The rationale being the government could not act on a subjudice matter. Essentially the government and the students were seeking the same outcome on the matter, with the students choosing a path of peaceful protests, and government pursuing the legal means.

Then, how did this peaceful general students’ movement turn violent? Answering this question needs a bit of a background. Objection to quotas, especially the quotas for freedom fighters, was first raised by Islami Chatro Shibir (the student wing of Jamaat-E-Islami, an Islamist organization convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity) in 2013. However, due to the extremist notoriety of the group, the issue did not get much traction.

Thus, while both the 2018 and the 2024 movements were waged by general students, Shibir, its parent organization Jamaat, and their ally the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) were very much interested in the outcome of the movements. The ulterior motive of the cohort to use the pretext of the student protest to unleash violence was evident from the public statements of leaders of BNP (Jamuna TV, July 17, 2024) and its student wing, Bangladesh Jatiyobadi Chatro Dal (Prothom Alo, 16 July 2024). They resorted to misinformation and disinformation using social media to drive a wedge between the government and the peaceful student protesters. For instance, an innocuous comment from the Prime Minister on collaborators of the 1971 Liberation War was misrepresented on social media to instigate and provoke the protesting students against the Premier.

Consequently, incendiary rhetoric started coming out of the protests, to which Bangladesh Students League (BSL), the students group affiliated with the ruling party, which till then was supportive of the quota reforms movement, started reacting to those comments that were not related to the movement. It is difficult to say which side threw the first stone, but soon enough, clashes erupted. Despite repeated calls for dialogue from the government, the protestors’ peaceful sit-ins transformed into coercive programmes such as road blockades. Additionally, clashes started to erupt between the protestors and BSL in various university campuses.

Soon clashes became violent with non-student political actors (BNP, Jamaat and their student wings) infiltrated and completely took over the movement. Consequently, the Prime Minister addressed the nation urging restraint and assuring appropriate judicial inquiry of violent incidents. She also requested the students to be patient till the SC verdict and hoped that they would get justice from Court. Meanwhile, at the request of the government, the SC brought forward the appeal hearing date to July 21, 2024.

Nonetheless, from July 18, 2024, the level of violence blew out of proportion, and it became evident that the third-party political actors were behind the violence under the cover of the students’ movement. Public and private properties including popular public installations, such as the metro rail, elevated expressway, government humanitarian establishments like disaster management centre, hospitals, and key point installations like the national broadcaster BTV and national data center were systematically attacked, vandalized, and torched. A prison was attacked in Narsingdi and set free convicted religious militants. The scale of destruction is unprecedented.

The protesting students issued multiple condemnations, distanced themselves from the violent acts, and warned the third party not to use their movement for their ulterior political motive. To save public lives and properties, the government was compelled to impose curfew and deploy the armed forces in aid of the civil authorities.

On July 21, 2024, the SC heard the appeal and announced its verdict – overturning the HC judgment. It also issued directives to the government to reform quota. The government has subsequently issued necessary notification according to SC guidelines. The protesting students have welcomed the decision.

In the meantime, many lives have been lost in the restive situation in Bangladesh last week (including innocent students, law enforcers, members of the ruling party, attackers, innocent bystanders etc.). The government has so far shown its sincerity in investigating the incidents of death by forming a judicial commission headed by a serving judge of the High Court. The Prime Minister has also assured, in her address to the nation, that the law will be applied strictly against those who are responsible for the incidents of death, notwithstanding their politics or positions.

This is undoubtedly a difficult time for Bangladesh. But the country is resilient. With normalcy returning slowly, it is hoped that the country can move past this tragic chapter quickly by ensuring accountability and fostering collective healing.

The author, Colin Stevens, is the Publisher / Editor in Chief of EU Reporter.

Seawater-slurping hydrogen reactor able to power a sub for 30 days

By Michael Irving
July 25, 2024
NEW ATLAS

MIT researchers Aly Kombargi (left) and Niko Tsakiris (right) with their new hydrogen reactor

Tony PulsoMIT scientists have discovered an intriguing new way to produce hydrogen fuel, using just soda cans, seawater and coffee grounds. The team says the chemical reaction could be put to work powering engines or fuel cells in marine vehicles that suck in seawater.

Hydrogen is an important player in the game for decarbonizing energy production – it’s clean-burning, energy-dense, and when used in fuel cells the only by-product is water. But one major hurdle is that it’s hard to store and transport, because the tiny molecules tend to leak right through containers and piping. Not only does that mean losses, but excess hydrogen can wreak havoc in the atmosphere.

In tests, a single pellet of aluminum weighing just 0.3 g (0.01 oz) placed in fresh, de-ionized water produced 400 ml of hydrogen in just five minutes. Scaled up, the team estimates that a single gram of pellets could generate an astonishing 1.3 L (0.3 gal) of hydrogen in five minutes.

The technique is based on a fairly simple chemical reaction: aluminum reacts very strongly to oxygen. So when you dunk it in water, it quickly strips the O out of H₂O, leaving molecular hydrogen behind to bubble out. The problem is, this process usually doesn’t last long. As it occurs, a thin layer of aluminum oxide builds up on the metal’s surface, blocking the pure aluminum below from interacting with the oxygen any further.

Previous studies have found that mixing in other metals like gallium can take the brakes off, by breaking down the aluminum oxide layer as it forms. In this case, the team pretreated the aluminum pellets with an alloy of gallium and indium, which allowed the reaction to last longer.

One potential downside is that gallium and indium are rare and expensive. But the researchers found that performing the reaction in an ionic solution caused the alloy to clump together into a form that can be scooped out and reused. Conveniently, seawater is an ionic solution.

The next problem was that the reaction was much slower in seawater, taking about two hours to produce the amount of hydrogen it took five minutes to make in fresh water. Through experimentation, a surprising final ingredient came to the rescue. When the team threw in some old coffee grounds the reaction sped up significantly, back to just five minutes. On closer inspection, the key was identified as imidazole, a compound in the caffeine.

The researchers propose that their recipe forms the basis of a practical hydrogen reactor that could be especially useful for powering marine vehicles.

“This is very interesting for maritime applications like boats or underwater vehicles because you wouldn’t have to carry around seawater – it’s readily available,” said Aly Kombargi, lead author of the study. “We also don’t have to carry a tank of hydrogen. Instead, we would transport aluminum as the ‘fuel,’ and just add water to produce the hydrogen that we need.”

The first test of the idea will be a small underwater glider which, according to their calculations, could run for up to 30 days straight by pumping seawater from its surroundings through a reactor holding about 40 lb (18 kg) of aluminum pellets.

“We’re showing a new way to produce hydrogen fuel, without carrying hydrogen but carrying aluminum as the ‘fuel’,” said Kombargi. “The next part is to figure out how to use this for trucks, trains, and maybe airplanes. Perhaps, instead of having to carry water as well, we could extract water from the ambient humidity to produce hydrogen. That’s down the line.

The research was published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science. A demonstration of the reaction can be seen in the video below.