Fox and badger snapped nose to nose in back garden

Jude Winter
BBC News, Derby

Leigh Pugh
The friendly pair were pictured eating together on Wednesday evening

An amateur photographer from Derbyshire captured the "amazing" moment a fox and a badger went nose to nose in his back garden.

Leigh Pugh, 54, managed to snap the friendly pair at his home in Matlock, Derbyshire, by setting up cameras with remote triggers that go off through the night when something enters his garden.

Mr Pugh said he had seen foxes and badgers feed close together before but "never like that".

After realising what he had snapped on Wednesday evening, Mr Pugh said: "I was really chuffed with them and it was one of them moments I never thought I’d ever capture."

He added: "It was something I will never repeat again. It was amazing to see it."

Leigh Pugh
Mr Pugh said two foxes have been coming to his garden since they were cubs

The 54 year-old, who has a passion for bird photography, decided to set up the cameras after being "mesmerised" when two fox cubs entered his garden three years ago.

Since then, Mr Pugh has placed cameras on tripods while "hoping for the best" to photograph the wildlife sneaking in while he sleeps.

He said the fox cubs had regularly come back to his house since he first saw them, with one of them being caught on camera feeding with the badger on Wednesday.

"I have decided to name them as they are quite recognisable", said Mr Pugh.

"The one without a scratch on his nose is called Echo and the one with the scratch is called Mischief.

"I am so stoked with the pictures."

"Kyrgyzstan seeks to create society, where women are actively involved in ensuring peace, security and preventing gender-based violence" - Vice Speaker of Parliament

Kyrgyzstan|foreign policy|October 5, 2024 / 

AKIPRESS.COM - During the Second Dialogue of Women of Central Asia in Bishkek, Vice Speaker of the Kyrgyz Parliament Jamilya Isayeva stressed the importance of the dialogue platform for discussing problems and joint solutions in the field of ensuring and enhancing women’s rights.

"Since its foundation, the Dialogue of Women of Central Asia has provided us with an opportunity to discuss and find common ground for supporting women in the region and today’s conference "Women, Peace and Security" is no exception. The second session is also chosen for a reason, as the issue of "Women, peace and security" is a key issue, which was first included on the agenda of the Security Council in 2000 when UN Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was adopted," she said.

Isayeva referred to measures taken by the Kyrgyz Republic in this direction, stressing that national legislation provides equal rights and opportunities for women in political and public life.

"In August 2024, President Japarov signed the Law "On the amendment of some legislative acts of the Kyrgyz Republic in the field of security and protection of family from sexual and gender-based violence," she said.

The document aims to provide comprehensive assistance to survivors of violence, according to her.

Concluding her speech, the Vice Speaker of the Parliament once again stressed the desire of Kyrgyzstan to create a society, where women are actively involved in ensuring peace, security and preventing gender-based violence.

Palestinian cultural heritage brought to light in Switzerland

Artefacts from Gaza are being displayed in Geneva as Israel's war on the besieged enclave nears its first anniversary.



AFP

A visitor walks past a lintel in two fragments (Mamluk period, 13th-15th century) discovered in the Zeytoun district in Gaza City, during "Heritage in Peril" at the Art and History Museum in Geneva on October 3, 2024. / Photo: AFP


Archaeological treasures from Gaza are going on display in Geneva, with the Swiss city protecting the heritage of a territory devastated by a year of war.


Amphoras, statuettes, vases, oil lamps and figurines are among the 44 objects unearthed in Gaza going on show in the "Patrimony in Peril" exhibition at the Museum of Art and History (MAH).


"It's a part of Gaza's soul. Its identity, even," Beatrice Blandin, the exhibition's curator, told AFP. "Heritage is really the history of this strip of land, the history of the people who live there."


The artefacts are from a collection of more than 530 objects that have been stored in crates in a secure warehouse in Geneva since 2007, unable to return to Gaza.


The exhibition, which runs from Saturday until February 9, also includes artefacts from Sudan, Syria and Libya.

It was staged to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Cultural damage in Gaza


The exhibition looks at the responsibility of museums in saving such property from damage, looting and conflict, reminding visitors that deliberately destroying heritage is a war crime.

"The forces of obscurantism understand that cultural property is what is at stake for civilisation, because they have never stopped wanting to destroy this heritage, as in Mosul," said Geneva city councillor Alfonso Gomez –– a reference to the northern Iraqi city captured by Daesh in 2014.


MAH director Marc-Olivier Wahler told AFP: "Unfortunately, in the event of conflict, many aggressors attack cultural heritage because it is obviously erasing the identity of a people, erasing its history. "


Thankfully, "there are museums, rules and conventions that protect this heritage".


Since Israel's invasion in Gaza began following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, cultural sites in the Palestinian territory have paid a heavy price, says the United Nations' cultural organisation.


UNESCO has verified damage to 69 sites: 10 religious sites, 43 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, two depositories of movable cultural property, six monuments, one museum and seven archaeological sites.



AFP

This photograph shows boxes of artefacts from Gaza originally kept in a secure hangar in Geneva since 2007.


Stuck in Swiss warehouse


At a time when Palestinian cultural heritage is "the victim of unprecedented destruction, the patrimonial value of the Gazan objects held in Geneva seems greater than ever", said the MAH.


Some of the objects belonged to the Palestinian Authority. The rest belonged to the Palestinian entrepreneur Jawdat Khoudary, but he later gave ownership of them to the PA in 2018.


These artefacts, evoking daily, civil and religious life from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman era, arrived in Geneva in 2006 to be shown at the "Gaza at the Crossroads of Civilisations" exhibition, inaugurated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.


They had been meant to form the foundation of an archaeological museum to be built in Gaza.


Instead, they were stuck in Geneva for 17 years, the conditions for their safe return having never been met.



Saved by circumstances


"At the time when the objects were due to leave, Hamas took over Gaza and there were geopolitical tensions between Palestine and Israel," said Blandin.


This "coincidence of circumstances," she said, ultimately saved the artefacts: the rest of Khoudary's private collection, which remained in Gaza, has been "totally destroyed" since October 7 last year.


Following a new cooperation agreement signed last September between the Palestinian Authority and Geneva, the Swiss city has committed to looking after the artefacts for as long as necessary.


The MAH also served as a refuge, in 1939 when the Spanish Republicans evacuated by train the greatest treasures from the Museo del Prado in Madrid and several other major collections.


And last year, Geneva hosted an exhibition of Ukrainian works of art.


According to the Swiss Museums Association, Switzerland, along with counterparts in other countries, has also been able to help more than 200 museums in Ukraine preserve their collections after Russia's full-scale offensive in February 2022.

SOURCE: AFP

Saudi Arabia: Over 220 employers penalised for labour violations

Authorities halt licences of 36 recruitment offices

Published: October 05, 2024 

Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent

Licenses for an additional 11 recruitment offices were revoked due to failure to meet minimum performance standards and violations of various recruitment regulations.Image Credit: Shutterstock (Representational image)

Cairo: Saudi Arabia has penalised 222 employers for violating domestic labour regulations. The violations included providing domestic workers' services to third parties, allowing them to work independently, and assigning tasks not agreed upon in advance.

The Ministry of Human Resources imposed fines on the violators, who were also stripped of their recruitment rights. Additionally, the ministry suspended the licenses of 25 recruitment offices for non-compliance with recruitment and labour service regulations, such as failing to refund clients and resolve employer-related issues.

Licenses for 11 more recruitment offices were revoked for not meeting minimum performance standards and violating several recruitment rules.

Saudi Arabia, home to 32.2 million people, hosts a large expatriate workforce. Recently, the Kingdom has focused on regulating its job market to enhance its attractiveness and competitiveness.

In August, the Saudi government approved significant labour reforms to protect contractual rights. For contracts without a specific duration, the notice period for termination is 30 days if initiated by the worker and 60 days if initiated by the employer.
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In 2020, Saudi Arabia introduced major labour reforms, significantly improving its sponsorship system. These reforms, implemented the following year, allow job mobility and regulate exit and re-entry visas for expatriates without requiring employer approval.

THE SAHEL JIHAD

600 people shot dead within hours by Al Qaeda in Burkina Faso: Report

By HT News Desk
Oct 05, 2024


Eyewitness accounts reveal horrific scenes as the terrorism, which has surged since 2015, continues to devastate the country.


Nearly 600 people were killed within a few hours in Burkina Faso by terrorists linked to Al Qaeda, according to a report by France's top intelligence agencies. The incident took place on August 24, when the terrorists attacked Barsalogho town in Burkina Faso.

People with their belongings piled on a makeshift trailer pulled by two donkeys flee their villages amid a terror attack in Burkina Faso.(AFP)

The attack, in which most of the victims were women and children, was one of the worst in the West African country's history, which has been grappling with a terror movement waged by rebels affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group that spilled over from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

The members of Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda affiliate based in Mali and active in Burkina Faso, shot down villagers as they swept into the outskirts of Barsalogho on bikes.

While the United Nations estimated a death count of around 200, the terror group in a statement said it had killed nearly 300 "fighters". However, citing a French government security assessment, CNN reported that up to 600 people were shot dead in the attack.

Eyewitnesses describe the horrific scene as the terrorists swept into the outskirts of Barsalogho on motorcycles, shooting down villagers who were digging trenches to defend their town. Videos of the attack showed some of the villagers lying on the ground and playing dead as the attackers opened fire.

A series of coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger has led to the departure of French and American forces, creating a power vacuum that has allowed jihadist groups to thrive.

What Is Happening In Burkina Faso

The jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso began in 2015, spilling over from neighboring Mali. The conflict has resulted in over 20,000 deaths and displaced more than 2 million people.

Back-to-back coups in Burkina Faso, in January and September 2022, were precipitated by bloody attacks by armed groups.

Also read: New Sahel bloc leaves West Africa more divided than ever

Jihadist fighters affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group have killed more than 20,000 people in Burkina Faso since 2015 - including some 3,800 this year alone - according to the ACLED analysis group, which tracks global conflict.

The Burkina Faso government has struggled to cope with the threat, and the military has been criticized for its response.

What Survivors Say

Survivors of the attack told CNN about the trauma and horror they experienced. One survivor, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "We the survivors are no longer normal. The problem is beyond us all. The massacre started in front of me. The very first shots were fired right in front of me." Another survivor lost two family members in the attack and described the difficulty of burying the dead.

"They killed people all day long. For three days we were collecting bodies - scattered everywhere. Fear got into our hearts. At the burial time, there are so many bodies lying on the ground that burying was hard," the survivor said.

The attack has led to angry protests against Burkina Faso's junta leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, who endorsed the construction of the trenches by civilians. The French report criticizses the government's response, stating that it "no longer has a military strategy to offer and whose propaganda discourse seems out of breath and ideas."

Extreme Right ‘Russian Community’ Becoming Active in Circassian Areas

Russians were Shocked by Ukrainian Advance into Kursk Oblast but Now Mostly have Taken It in Stride, Levada Center Head Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 7 – When Ukrainian forces began their intervention in Kursk Oblast in early August, Russians overwhelmingly were in a state of shock having convinced themselves that such an event was impossible given the pressure the Russian forces have put on Ukrainian forces inside Ukraine, Denis Volkov says.

            But in the weeks since, most Russians have come to terms with this Ukrainian military action and view it within the context of the broader fighting inside Ukraine rather than as a separate problem, the head of the independent Levada Center polling agency says (forbes.ru/mneniya/520270-privycnaa-trevoga-cto-dumaut-rossiane-o-nastuplenii-vsu-v-kurskoj-oblasti).

            That does not mean that Russians have accepted this Ukrainian action as a fait accompli. Rather, it is the product of Moscow propaganda and its insistence that Russia has everything in hand  and will soon expel the Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, Volkov says polling data show.

            There have been, however, two consequences of the Russian reaction to Kursk that have been less widely noted but may prove more important. On the one hand, there is no ever less talk about the possibility of any peace negotiations with Kyiv to end the war. And on the other, Russians have become more angry about social and economic problems.

            If the reasons for the first of these are obvious, those behind the second are less so, Volkov suggests. They involve increasing cynicism in the population about Russian government declarations and a sense that the war is likely to drag on for some time if Ukraine is able to mount such operations.   

Extreme Right ‘Russian Community’ Becoming Active in Circassian Areas

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 5 – The extreme right Russian nationalist organization, the Russian Community, already the largest Russian nationalist group in the country, involved in suppressing non-Russian groups across the country, and the source many fear for complecting the regional militias Moscow is allowing is now becoming active in Circassian areas.

            (For background on this group and the fears it is provoking among non-Russians, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/09/russian-community-now-largest-extreme.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/08/clashes-between-ethnic-diasporas-and.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/09/moscow-gives-heads-of-all-federal.html.)

            The Circassian National Front reports that “the first branches of this nationalist group have opened in Kabardino-Balkaria (Nalchik) and Karachayevo-Cherkessia (Cherkessk). In Krasnodarsk Kray and Adygeya (Maikop), the Russian Community has already been functioning for several years” (t.me/cirnatfront/50).

            Some members of the Russian Community in these regions are flying the notorious Bakalanov flag which was used by Russian irregulars at the end of the Circassian war, and the Circassian National Front fears that the appearance of this group with such flags means that Russian nationalists hope to “extinguish” the Circassian nation on its homeland.

            However that may be, the appearance of the Russian Community in Circassian areas almost certainly is going to spark more conflicts in the binational republics of the central North Caucasus, republics that in recent months have seen a significant rise in ethnic tensions (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/09/islamist-radicalism-continues-to-spread.html).          

Jail sentence for scammers who fooled Apple into replacing fake iPhones with new ones

By HT News Desk, New Delhi
Oct 05, 2024 

The tech giant suffered a loss of more than $2.5 million as a result of the scam, that unfolded in the United States.

Two Chinese nationals living in the United States were sentenced earlier this week for duping Apple into replacing 6000 counterfeit iPhones with real models, resulting in a loss of more than ₹$2.5 million (approx. ₹21 crore) to the tech giant, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced.

The Apple logo is illuminated at a store in the city center in Munich, Germany, on Dec. 16, 2020.. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

Sentenced on Wednesday, the two men are Haotian Sun (34) and Pengfei Xue (also 34). Both are residents of the Maryland state, living in Baltimore and Germantown respectively, a DOJ statement read.

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Also, as per the statement, Sun received 57 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and has been ordered to pay $1,072,200 in restitution to Apple and a forfeiture money judgment of $53,610.

On the other hand, Xue got 54 months in jail, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $397,800 in restitution to Apple and a forfeiture money judgment of $19,890.

The scam

Court documents and documents presented at the trial show the scam unfolded from May 2017 to September 2019. Under the scheme, the pair would receive shipments of inauthentic but genuine-looking iPhones from their co-conspirators who used to send these from Hong Kong. The delivery was made via UPS mailboxes throughout the Washington D.C., metropolitan area.

The fake iPhones, with spoofed IMEI numbers, were then submitted at Apple retail stores and other authorised Apple service providers, for ‘repair.’ The IMEI numbers were linked to real customers' iPhones that were still under warranty and in turn, this led to the Tim Cook-led company being tricked into substituting fake devices with genuine ones.

However, a tip-off from an Apple investigator alerted law enforcement and the conspiracy was busted

Sun and Xue were convicted in February after a five-day jury trial.

Kamala Harris' tax plan for small businesses sounds like it will cost a lot of money — it won't

Alice Tecotzky 

Oct 5, 2024

Harris has made supporting small businesses a key part of her economic proposal. 

JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP

Harris has proposed expanding the small business tax credit from $5,000 to $50,000.
Experts told BI the proposal would shift the timing of deductions and isn't all that pricey.
If the proposal inspired more small business creation, it would likely spur economic growth.

Patricia Oswlad, 55, and her husband have spent years building up their retirement fund. But when Oswald decided to launch a small business in the fall of 2022, the couple liquidated some of their assets to fund the company, throwing their financial planning to the wind.

With fewer than five weeks until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is making a targeted pitch to entrepreneurs like Oswald, who are burdened by startup expenses. She even mentioned a key proposal in her opening answer at the presidential debate: expand the small business tax credit 10-fold, from $5,000 to $50,000.

In a pamphlet on her economic plan, dubbed the "Opportunity Economy," Harris explains that she would let business owners take advantage of the $50,000 tax deduction right away or a few years after launching, to help lower taxes once they start turning a profit. The proposal, like many of her others, would need congressional approval.

Oswald told Business Insider the credit would have been "invaluable" in getting Brisa Systems, which offers powered drying racks, off the ground.

Harris' proposal shifts the tax timeline for entrepreneurs.

Tax experts told BI that enacting the credit would mean a change in timing more than anything else. Under current law, small businesses can deduct up to $5,000 in expenses immediately and must deduct any future expenses against their income over 15 years. Harris' proposal would let entrepreneurs deduct more money quickly.

Owners have expenses before even launching their business, and the deduction would help cover those costs.

Rhett Buttle, the co-executive director of Small Business Roundtable and a former business advisor for President Joe Biden, told Business Insider that startup costs accumulate in three primary areas: marketing, basic equipment, and hiring.

For Oswald, most early costs have been in manufacturing and intellectual property services. Taylor McCleneghan, who launched her product development company, Small Shop LLC, in 2018, named inventory and marketing as the biggest upfront costs. Both women are based in the Chicago area.

Harris has made supporting small business a key part of her economic agenda. Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Brett Theodos, a senior fellow at Urban Institute who specializes in small business loans, told BI that entrepreneurs would "love" to be able to deduct more of those expenses right away. Moving up the timeline would, he said, make many feel less strapped for cash from the very outset.

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And there's another potential upside, according to Garret Watson, a senior policy analyst at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Small businesses would likely benefit from getting the deduction more quickly because of inflation, he said.

Many entrepreneurs are psyched about the effort. Theodos struggled to think of a reason why they wouldn't want this, and Buttle said that those he works with are overwhelmingly excited about the plan.

McCleneghan, of the Small Shop, said having access to a $50,000 tax deduction early on would have allowed her to do better long-term planning. With the expanded tax deduction, Oswald said she might not have had to divest retirement funds or take out lines of credit.
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"Getting money in the hands of entrepreneurs sooner is going to allow them to hire, to get equipment, to get a space, to pay off some debt, to pay themselves," Theodos said. "So it's meaningful to allow them to accelerate the deduction of startup expenses."

But while small business owners may jump at the opportunity for more early cash flow, where this money would come from is more unclear. McCleneghan herself acknowledged that the details seem hazy.
Despite the flashy numbers, the proposal likely wouldn't have a significant impact on the federal budget.

Though $50,000 sounds like a big-ticket promise, the experts BI spoke to said Harris' proposal actually wouldn't make a big dent in the federal budget. The Tax Foundation, where Watson works, examined cost estimates from prior expansions and found that the proposal would cost about $24.5 billion over 10 years.

"Relative to the federal government's budget and spending, it's very small," Watson said. "This $25 billion number is in the context of a tax plan for the Harris campaign that would raise about $5 trillion over 10 years. So you're talking about orders of magnitude more money on the tax hike side."
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Harris' proposal would require congressional approval.

 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Some of the loss, he said, stems from the likelihood that certain entrepreneurs will use the deduction and then go out of business. Since the proposal changes when businesses can deduct rather than how much they deduct, it will cost some money, but not "big money," Theodos said.

And the proposal could help spur growth, if it becomes law. According to a study from the Pew Research Center published in April 2024, small businesses employ nearly half of the country's private sector employees.

Theodos called small businesses "essential" for the US economy, and Buttle said they're a crucial source of innovation. But the tax experts said the full potential economic impact of the proposed expansion is still up in the air.

"The question is, will this significantly contribute to a startup boom or really change the needle there or move the needle there? I think that's a reasonable question. It's up for debate, particularly because this is such a narrow provision," Watson told BI, while noting that giving businesses deductions is generally a good policy.
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If the policy did spur more development, though, Mary Hansen, an economics professor at American University and co-director of the nonpartisan Institute for Macroeconomic and Policy Analysis, said it would eventually have a net positive impact on government revenue.

As of now, Harris' promise is just that — a promise.

Should she win the election, Congress would need to pass legislation to turn her expanded tax deduction idea into a reality. Despite the prevailing congressional gridlock, all of the experts BI spoke with said small businesses are a rare point of potential bipartisan agreement. Watson predicted that lawmakers would likely tie the proposal to their actions on the expiring 2017 tax provisions.

Harris' proposal would disproportionately impact entrepreneurs with less access to capital, namely women and people of color. 

Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Should Congress ever pass the expanded tax deduction, all startups and small businesses would access the same amount of money — but the experts told BI that some would feel the impact more than others. Entrepreneurs with less initial cash flow would disproportionately benefit from the change, they said.

Buttle said it would help women and people of color who have a harder time accessing capital. The Pew Research study found 61% of small businesses are majority-owned by men and, as of 2021, 85% were majority-white owned.

"We're talking about community businesses, micro-businesses, businesses where the founder doesn't have as much net worth," Theodos told BI. "Everybody can benefit from $45,000, but the question is, who is that making the critical difference for?"

American Arabs, Muslims feel 'betrayed' by Biden administration as Gaza genocide anniversary nears

Community leaders criticize administration for unwavering support of Israel, citing broken promises, failure to halt Gaza genocide

Hakan Copur |05.10.2024 - TRT/AA


​​​​WASHINGTON

American Arabs and Muslims, who fiercely denounced the US’ unwavering support for Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, feel "betrayed" by the Biden-Harris administration as the first anniversary of the ongoing tragedy approaches.

As many dynamics have shifted in the Middle East during the last year, the administration appears to be losing significant credibility with American Arabs and Muslims.

Demands from non-governmental organizations urging the Biden administration to take action for a cease-fire and halt arms shipments to Israel have resonated in Washington, but have not resulted in any concrete policy changes.

"We’re very frustrated and angry with this president who has put Israeli interests over humanitarian interests and over American interests, and also, he betrayed the trust that we have given him as a president," Nihad Awad, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Anadolu.

He said Biden has become the worst American president, adding that a genocide has been committed under his watch. Biden opposed all kinds of ceasefires, and participated in parroting the Israeli talking points, said Awad.

"Our feelings as American Muslims, is just like the feelings of all people's conscience around the world seeing the devastation, the carnage, the genocide committed by the extremist Israeli government's army in Gaza and now into Lebanon and threatening to engulf the region into a major war," said Awad.

"We're looking at an extreme Israeli government that is planning to annex and ethnically cleanse the entire Palestine, fulfilling a false religious narrative. So, it is more painful for us because this is happening and supported by our own government, sending arms and using and exploiting and misusing our tax dollars that should go to rebuild America, to build infrastructure, finance, education and healthcare," he said. "We are angry at him, we are angry at (Vice President) Kamala Harris, at the entire Biden administration and also (Donald) Trump for their one-sided policies. And we believe that they will pay for it at the at the ballot box in November" in the presidential election.

'Disappointed with our government'

Oussama Jammal, general secretary of the United States Council for Muslim Organizations (USCMO), lamented that there was not a lot of effort focusing on Gaza and the cease-fire deal that will bring the genocide in the enclave to end.

"As American Muslims, we feel so disappointed with our government, especially with President Biden, who has in his power to bring this genocide to stop, he can easily pressure Israel, who lives on American support and assistance to forces to make a deal and stop the genocide and resolve this in a peaceful way. Unfortunately, we have not seen enough pressure put on Israel," Jammal told Anadolu.

"So, after a full year of atrocities, of genocide, innocent people, we can sense that the whole objective of this is really not about hostage or anything else. It is about ethnic cleansing. It is about completely destroying Gaza, not making it a livable place," he said.

Noting that Biden is being called "Genocide Joe" by those who criticized him for his inaction on the plight of Palestinians, who have been under an Israeli onslaught for one year, he said, "I don't think this is a good legacy for Joe Biden, with the few days left in his presidency to be remembered as such."

Jammal also voiced disappointment about promises by Biden, saying the outgoing president has not delivered any. "What we take from him is empty statements ... nobody believes Joe Biden's -- any promise that he made."

"They are unfortunately capable of allowing the Holocaust to happen back in the 40s, and now they are allowing genocide to happen in the 21st century. It is a shame," Jammal added.

Executive Director of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Basharat Saleem said there is large-scale devastation and death and destruction in the Palestinian enclave.

"So, there is definitely a lot of human suffering going on in Gaza for about a year now. ISNA really is calling for peace from the beginning. You know, we are calling for peace in the region. We are calling for a cease-fire from Israel. We are calling to stop this," said Saleem.

"The United States government has not shown any type of action that can prevent these things. We have not seen that from President Biden, although they talk about many efforts for a cease-fire, but we have not seen any concrete plans," he added.

'Huge list of mistakes'

Khalil Jahshan, the executive director of Arab Center Washington DC, said it has been "hell" for Palestinians in Gaza in the past 12 months, amid continued attacks.

He believes developments in Lebanon, where Israel is carrying out frequent strikes against Hezbollah, are a result of the same logic and aggression applied in Gaza by the Israeli government.

Jahshan said Israel wants to keep control of northern Gaza, keep it lightly inhabited under its control, by allowing "some people maybe to come back."

"This (Biden) administration has made a huge list of mistakes since the beginning of this conflict," he said.

"On the one hand, Mr. Biden keeps preaching about the need of a cease-fire and the need to end the fighting and to protect the civilian population. At the same time, he continues to commit to unlimited armaments and aid to Israel to continue the war.

"You cannot continue to add fuel to the fire at the same time pretend to be extinguishing the fire," said Jahshan.

He said for some communities, Harris also has not made "sufficient attempts" to distance herself from Biden's policies such as arming and participating in Israeli genocide.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following an attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023. More than 41,800 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed.

The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

In Michigan, Harris doesn’t get hoped-for firefighters endorsement amid shifting labor loyalties


Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event at the Redford Township Fire Department North Station in Michigan on Friday.

(Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press)

By Chris Megerian and Will Weissert

Oct. 4, 2024 


REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. —

It was the perfect place to welcome the endorsement of the firefighters union — a gleaming new firehouse in a blue-collar town just outside of Detroit in the key battleground state of Michigan.

But by the time Vice President Kamala Harris showed up in Redford Township on Friday, there was no endorsement waiting for her.

By a slim margin, the International Assn. of Firefighters declined to back any candidate, a reminder of the Democratic nominee’s struggle to lock down the same support from organized labor that President Biden won four years ago. The Teamsters also balked at an endorsement last month.

Harris is still gaining more endorsements than she’s losing. National teachers unions, building trade unions, the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers backed the vice president shortly after Biden ended his run for a second term. And the leader of the Michigan firefighters union, Matthew Sahr, showed up for Harris in Redford Township — although not to bestow the endorsement.

“We could have chosen to stay away. But what kind of message would that send?” Sahr said.

A spokesman for the union declined Friday to comment beyond a previously released statement that said there would be no endorsement for Harris or her opponent, former President Trump.

“The vice president is proud to have the support of organized labor, including firefighters across key battlegrounds like those who joined her in Michigan Friday,” said Harris campaign spokesman Brian Fallon. “She is the only candidate in this race who always stands with workers and has fought to protect overtime pay, worker pensions, and the right to organize.”

What unfolded nonetheless reflects the shifting loyalties in American politics as Harris vies with Trump for support among working-class voters who for years could be more solidly counted on to support Democrats.

Still, Harris didn’t mince words when she spoke at the firehouse, saying Trump “has been a union-buster his entire career” and would launch a “full-on attack” against organized labor.

Harris said Trump supports “right-to-work” laws that often make it more difficult to unionize, and said he had weakened federal employees’ unions. While he was president, Trump used a series of 2018 executive orders designed to reduce those unions’ powers to collectively bargain.

He has expressed support for right-to-work since his initial run for president in 2016 — while also making comments more generally supportive of labor rights when speaking to union audiences since then.

Harris also accused the former president of “making the same empty promises to the people of Michigan that he did before, hoping you will forget how he let you down.”

Her remarks followed U.S. dockworkers suspending their strike in hopes of reaching a new contract, sparing the country a damaging episode of labor unrest that could have rattled the economy. A tentative agreement that has been hailed by Harris was reached to raise salaries, although other issues still need to be resolved.

The vice president later addressed an evening rally in Flint. She spoke after basketball legend Magic Johnson, who said “nobody is going to outwork her,” and UAW President Shawn Fain, who described Trump as “a scab.”

Harris said that, unlike what Trump says about the Biden administration’s rules on electric vehicles, “I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive.”

“But here’s what I will do, I will invest in communities like Flint,” she said.

Harris also criticized Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, after Vance, while campaigning in Michigan on Wednesday, refused to commit to continue federal support going to a GM plant in Lansing, Michigan’s state capital.

“Donald Trump’s running mate suggested that if Trump wins, he might let the Grand River Assembly Plant in Lansing close down,” Harris said as the crowd booed.

She said that, by contrast, the Biden administration had fought to keep the plant open, adding, “Michigan, we, together, fought hard for those jobs and you deserve a president who won’t put them at risk.”

Questions remain, though, about whether Harris can cement backing from most rank-and-file union members.

Justin Pomerville, the business manager at UA Local 85 in Michigan, said 70% of his members’ work hours are tied to the CHIPS and Science Act, which the Biden administration championed, pumping billions of dollars into semiconductor manufacturing.

The workers lay complex networks of pipes that carry exhaust, water and chemicals through high-tech facilities. However, Pomerville said some members aren’t aware of the connection between their jobs and the legislation.

“Unless someone tells them they’re working because of that, they don’t know,” he said.

The Democrats, meanwhile, have increased their support among white-collar professionals while Republicans try to make inroads among voters who didn’t attend college.

During a rally in Saginaw, Mich., on Thursday, Trump said Republicans are now “the party of the American worker,” glossing over his anti-union record as president.

The former president also made a trip to Flint last month in an event billed as focusing on the auto industry, a pillar of the battleground state. The two candidates have been in the same cities — and in some cases the exact same venues — within days or weeks of each other.

Trump spent Friday in Georgia with Gov. Brian Kemp, the latest sign that he’s patched up his rocky relationship with the top Republican in a key battleground state. The former president and the governor appeared in Evans, Ga., standing before pallets of goods including bottled water, diapers and paper towels.

“I have no doubt that whatever can be done is going to be done,” Trump said. “It’s a lot of effort. It’s a very heartbreaking situation.”

Later Friday, he held a town hall in Fayetteville in another storm-ravaged state, North Carolina. Speaking to an audience composed largely of people with military connections, he pledged to change the name of nearby Ft. Liberty back to its prior name, Ft. Bragg. The base, one of the U.S. military’s largest, was rechristened in 2022 in a push to rename military installations named for Confederate service members.

Trump repeated his promise to fire “woke generals,” blasted the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and said he’d make it easier for veterans to seek medical care outside the Veterans Administration healthcare system.

One man, introduced as a Vietnam War veteran named Dwight, gave Trump the Purple Heart he was awarded for injuries sustained while serving. He referenced the bullet that grazed Trump’s ear during a rally in Pennsylvania and Trump’s response.

“I couldn’t think of anybody more deserving to have a Purple Heart,” Dwight said to Trump. “You took it, you laid down there, you got back up and the first words out of your mouth were ‘fight, fight, fight.’ You didn’t even have anything to shoot back at him.”

Trump got a series of deferments to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War, including one obtained with a physician’s letter saying he had bone spurs in his feet. In the 1990s, he said trying to avoid sexually transmitted infections was “my personal Vietnam.”

Megerian and Weissert write for the Associated Press. Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard in Fayetteville, N.C., and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Trump jokes about dead firefighter’s widow in leaked recording after Butler rally tragedy: ‘I handed her…’

ByAditi Srivastava
Oct 05, 2024 

In leaked audio, Donald Trump made a distasteful joke about Corey Comperatore and her widow at a high-profile dinner.

Donald Trump was heard making a controversial joke about the widow of firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed during a shooting at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally in an alleged leaked audio recording. The Guardian reported, how the Republican nominee recounted his conversation with Comperatore’s wife during a private dinner on August 10 in Aspen, where he handed her a monetary gift.

Trump showed the audience what he claimed to be a million-dollar cheque for Comperatore's family as well as for the two victims who were seriously injured in the incident.(X)

He then went on to make an inappropriate remark about the situation. The dinner, which featured several high-profile attendees, has drawn backlash.

Trump jokes about Corey Comperatore and his wife

On July 13, Donald Trump was addressing a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he became the target of a failed assassination attempt, which was aborted at the last minute by the Secret Service.

While the former president was unharmed, the rally tragically saw the loss of a brave firefighter who was shot dead after diving to protect his family as Thomas Crooks opened fire. The 12 min recording obtained by The Guardian was from a dinner held at the $38 million home of art collectors and investors John and Amy Phelan on August 10 in Aspen, Colorado.

“So they’re going to get millions of dollars but the woman, the wife, this beautiful woman, I handed her the check—we handed her the check,” the Republican party candidate said recalling his meeting with Helen Comperatore. “and she said, ‘This is so nice, and I appreciate it, but I’d much rather have my husband.’ Now I know some of the women in this room wouldn’t say the same. 

He quipped "I know at least four couples. There are four couples, Governor [Abbott], that I know and you’re not one of them. At least four couples here would have been thrilled, actually.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Steve Wynn, and billionaire Thomas Peterffy were among the guests at the event, which required couples to contribute $500,000 to join the host committee or at least $25,000 to attend.

Trump ranted about migrants

During the dinner attended by approximately 100 guests, with Trump arriving in his private jet at the venue previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein, The Guardian reported that the former president unleashed a profanity-laden tirade against undocumented migrants, a topic he never forgets to bring up, especially in the days leading up to the November presidential election.

Also read: Male A-lister in Diddy Sex tape ‘horrified’ by leak in media: ‘If this footage gets out…’

He criticised certain politically savvy leaders for allegedly planning the entry of convicted criminals into the U.S. to undermine the country. Trump also recounted an alleged false incident involving over 20 individuals who traveled to the U.S. after being released from prison in a Central African nation.


“We said, ‘Where do you come from?’ They said, ‘Prison.’ ‘What did you do?’ ‘None of your f---ing business what we did,’” he reportedly narrated an exchange between an alleged migrant and an unnamed official. “You know why? Because they’re murderers.”

In the recording, Trump appeared to acknowledge that he may have gone too far with his language, stating, “I hate to use that foul language.” He then characterized the individuals entering the U.S. as tough, mentioning they were coming from various regions, including Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia, suggesting they were worse than American criminals.