DUBLIN: The rival sides in Ireland’s decades-old battle over abortion made their final pitches to voters on Thursday, the eve of a referendum on liberalising one of the world’s strictest bans on terminations.
Voters in the once deeply Catholic nation will be asked on Friday if they wish to scrap a prohibition that was enshrined in the constitution by referendum 35 year ago, then partly lifted five years ago for cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
Opinion polls have put those who favor changing the law in the lead. The two most recent surveys on Sunday showed the “Yes” side pulling slightly further ahead.
“This is a once-in-a-generation decision for the Irish people,” Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told reporters.
“It is an opportunity for us to change our country. If there is a ‘Yes’ vote, Ireland will still be the same place, just a place that is a little bit more compassionate, a little kinder and a little more understanding than it has been.”
“Yes” campaigners are urging voters to repeal the eighth amendment of the constitution, which equates the right to life of the mother with her unborn child’s.
They argue that with over 3,000 women traveling to Britain each year for terminations and others ordering pills illegally online, abortion is already a reality in Ireland.
The “No” camp has seized on government plans to allow terminations with no restriction up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy if the referendum is carried, although that is not on the ballot paper.
They have suggested in recent days that if the referendum is defeated, the constitution could instead be amended again to allow for abortions in “hard” cases such as rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality.
Varadkar and others say this is impossible — citing advice from Ireland’s Attorney General — and have accused their opponents of trying to dupe voters.
“If we ... vote ‘No’, no doubt this will come back in a year or two and then we can look at the hard cases, but not a carte blanche free-for-all for up to 12 weeks,” said Mattie McGrath, an independent lawmaker and prominent anti-abortion campaigner.
“If ‘No’ carries, the people will have spoken.”
Most polls will open at 0600 GMT on Friday, although voting was already under way on Thursday on remote west coast islands.
Some expatriate Irish were flying home from as far away as Bangkok, Los Angeles and Sydney to cast their ballots in a country that does not allow those abroad to vote via post or in embassies.
Those away for less than 18 months remain eligible to vote at their former local polling station.
The hashtag #hometovote was one of the top trending issues on Twitter on Wednesday, as it was three years ago when Ireland became the first country in the world to adopt gay marriage by popular vote.
Online comments suggested most of those heading home planned to vote “Yes.” Many posted photos of themselves wearing sweatshirts bearing the “Yes” side’s “Repeal” slogan.
“For me, I felt a moral obligation to come back,” said Ciaran Gaffney, 22, who forked out nearly 1,000 euros to return to the southwestern city of Limerick from Buenos Aires and bumped into four other returning voters on his flight home.
“As soon as the referendum was called, I just booked the flights there and then. My generation, my peers, are the ones who are going to be affected. I’m extremely excited to go into the polling booth and put that ‘X’ into the Ta (Yes) box.”
Campaigners make final pitches on eve of Ireland’s abortion referendum
Campaigners make final pitches on eve of Ireland’s abortion referendum
- Prime Minister Leo Varadkar: “If there is a ‘Yes’ vote, Ireland will still be the same place, just a place that is a little bit more compassionate, a little kinder and a little more understanding than it has been.”
- Some expatriate Irish were flying home from as far away as Bangkok, Los Angeles and Sydney to cast their ballots in a country that does not allow those abroad to vote via post or in embassies.
Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
Another 77 people were injured, 12 of them seriously
AGUEDA, Portugal: Portugal’s firefighters have mastered most of the deadly forest fires in the north of the country, according to official data Thursday.
And improving weather conditions have raised hopes that they could extinguish the last of the blazes by the end of the day.
The wildfires, which sprang up over the weekend fed by crushing heat and strong winds, have killed five people, four of them firefighters. Another 77 people were injured, 12 of them seriously.
By late morning on Thursday the civil protection service website said 1,200 firefighters were battling the six remaining fires in the northern districts of Aveiro and Viseu.
A day earlier, 3,900 firefighters were tackling 42 active fires, supported by more than a thousand vehicles and around 30 aircraft.
But overnight, the teams brought several blazes in villages in the Aveiro region covering a front of around 100 kilometers (60 miles) under control.
Temperatures have dropped since the weekend and rain is forecast for Friday.
But there has been extensive damage in the north and center of the country, much of it to the eucalyptus groves there.
One estimate issued Wednesday by the Copernicus observatory said at least 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of vegetation had been destroyed.
And data from the European Forest Fires Information System (Effis) said the total area hit by the recent fires came to 100,000 hectares: 10 times more than the area burnt since the beginning of summer.
Dozens of houses were also destroyed or damaged.
Outgoing NATO chief urges allies ‘to be willing to pay the price for peace’
“We have to be willing to pay the price for peace. The more money, the stronger our defenses, the more effective our deterrence, the greater our security,” Stoltenberg will say according to prepared remarks.
“The good news is that we have delivered on the pledge we made ten years ago (to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense). But the bad news is that this is no longer enough to keep us safe.”
Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway who has led NATO since 2014, will hand over to Dutch former Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Oct 1.
Taliban in control of 39 Afghan embassies globally
- No international government has formally recognized Taliban administration three years after they seized power
- Many countries, especially Western nations, have urged Taliban to ease restrictions on women for recognition
The Taliban administration is in control of 39 Afghan embassies and consulates globally three years after it took over Afghanistan and the previous Western-backed government collapsed, the acting foreign ministry said on Thursday.
No international government has formally recognized the Taliban administration, though China and the United Arab Emirates have officially accepted its ambassadors in their capitals.
Many governments, especially Western nations including the United States, have said the path to any formal recognition of the Taliban will be stuck until they change course on women’s rights and re-open high schools and universities to girls and women and allow their full freedom of movement.
The Taliban say they respect rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and that restrictions on its banking sector and a lack of recognition are hindering its economy.
After the collapse of Afghanistan’s republic government in 2021, foreign embassies were thrown into disarray with many issuing documents such as visas and passports that in some cases the Taliban have said should not be recognized.
The Taliban has appointed its own diplomats to head several embassies, including ambassadors accepted in Abu Dhabi and Beijing and a charge d’affaires in neighboring Pakistan. At some missions, diplomats appointed under the previous government work with Taliban authorities.
“Thirty-nine embassies and diplomatic affairs obey the central authority, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said the Taliban’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi at a press conference in Kabul.
He added that his ministry had sent dozens of diplomats to 11 countries in the past year, including Turkiye, Russia, Iran and Pakistan.
Muttaqi said Afghanistan would send a new ambassador to Uzbekistan this week and expected Russia to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations “soon.”
In July, the Taliban said it was cutting ties with at least 14 Afghan diplomatic missions, adding it would not honor passports and visas issued by those embassies, mostly based in Europe.
Fatimah Amjad
Editors Pakistan
OnlinePK
Taliban in control of 39 Afghan embassies globally
REUTERS
The Taliban administration is in control of 39 Afghan embassies and consulates globally three years after it took over Afghanistan and the previous Western-backed government collapsed, the acting foreign ministry said on Thursday.
No international government has formally recognized the Taliban administration, though China and the United Arab Emirates have officially accepted its ambassadors in their capitals.
Many governments, especially Western nations including the United States, have said the path to any formal recognition of the Taliban will be stuck until they change course on women’s rights and re-open high schools and universities to girls and women and allow their full freedom of movement.
The Taliban say they respect rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and that restrictions on its banking sector and a lack of recognition are hindering its economy.
After the collapse of Afghanistan’s republic government in 2021, foreign embassies were thrown into disarray with many issuing documents such as visas and passports that in some cases the Taliban have said should not be recognized.
The Taliban has appointed its own diplomats to head several embassies, including ambassadors accepted in Abu Dhabi and Beijing and a charge d’affaires in neighboring Pakistan. At some missions, diplomats appointed under the previous government work with Taliban authorities.
“Thirty-nine embassies and diplomatic affairs obey the central authority, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said the Taliban’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi at a press conference in Kabul.
He added that his ministry had sent dozens of diplomats to 11 countries in the past year, including Turkiye, Russia, Iran and Pakistan.
Muttaqi said Afghanistan would send a new ambassador to Uzbekistan this week and expected Russia to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations “soon.”
In July, the Taliban said it was cutting ties with at least 14 Afghan diplomatic missions, adding it would not honor passports and visas issued by those embassies, mostly based in Europe.
Jihadist attacks in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Security source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that 77 people had been killed and 255 wounded
Bamako: A jihadist attack in the Malian capital targeting a military police training camp and a military airport left more than 70 dead and 200 wounded, security sources said Thursday.
A security source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that 77 people had been killed and 255 wounded in Tuesday’s attacks in Bamako.
An authenticated confidential official document put the toll at around 100, naming 81 victims.
Thursday’s edition of Le Soir daily reported that the funerals of around 50 military police students would take place on the same day.
Mali’s military-led authorities have so far not released a precise death toll from the attacks, claimed by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group JNIM.
The operation was the first of its kind in years and dealt a forceful blow to the ruling junta, experts say.
The Malian capital is normally spared the sort of attacks that occur almost daily in some parts of the West African country.
The general staff admitted late Tuesday that “some human lives were lost,” notably personnel at the military police center.
JNIM claimed that a few dozen of its fighters had killed and wounded “hundreds” from the opposing ranks, including members of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.
The attack came a day after junta-led Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso marked a year since the creation of their breakaway grouping, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
The trio have been under military rule following a string of coups since 2020, and in January said they were breaking ties with regional bloc ECOWAS.
Muslim Americans moving to Jill Stein in potential blow to Kamala Harris
- 40 percent of Muslims back Stein in Michigan, 12 percent back Harris
- Muslim voters may prove crucial in close White House race
WASHINGTON: Arab-American and Muslim voters angry at US support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza are shunning Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race to back third-party candidate Jill Stein in numbers that could deny Harris victories in battleground states that will decide the Nov. 5 election.
A Council on American-Islamic Relations poll released this month showed that in Michigan, home to a large Arab American community, 40 percent of Muslim voters backed the Green Party’s Stein. Republican candidate Donald Trump got 18 percent with Harris, who is President Joe Biden’s vice president, trailing at 12 percent.
Stein also leads Harris among Muslims in Arizona and Wisconsin, battleground states with sizable Muslim populations where Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by slim margins.
Harris was the leading pick of Muslim voters in Georgia and Pennsylvania, while Trump prevailed in Nevada with 27 percent, just ahead of Harris’ 26 percent, according to the CAIR poll of 1,155 Muslim voters nationwide. All are battleground states that have swung on narrow margins in recent elections.
Biden won the 2020 Muslim vote, credited in some exit polls with more than 80 percent of their support, but Muslim backing of Democrats has fallen sharply since Israel’s nearly year-long action in Gaza.
About 3.5 million Americans reported being of Middle Eastern descent in the 2020 US Census, the first year such data was recorded. Although they make up about 1 percent of the total US population of 335 million, their voters may prove crucial in a race that opinion polls show to be close.
On Tuesday, Harris called for an end to the Israel-Gaza war and the return of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. She also said Israel must not reoccupy the Palestinian enclave and backed a two-state solution.
But at closed-door meetings in Michigan and elsewhere, Harris campaign officials have rebuffed appeals to halt or limit US arms shipments to Israel, community leaders say.
“Decades of community organizing and civic engagement and mobilizing have not manifested into any benefit,” said Faye Nemer, founder of the Michigan-based MENA American Chamber of Commerce to promote US trade with the Middle East.
“We’re part of the fabric of this country, but our concerns are not taken into consideration,” she said.
Stein is aggressively campaigning on Gaza, while Trump representatives are meeting with Muslim groups and promising a swifter peace than Harris can deliver.
The Harris campaign declined to comment on the shifting dynamics; officials tasked with Muslim outreach were not available for interviews.
Stein’s 2016 run ended with just over 1 percent of the popular vote, but some Democrats blamed her and the Green Party for taking votes away from Democrat Hillary Clinton. Pollsters give Stein no chance of winning in 2024.
But her support for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, for an immediate US arms embargo on Israel and for student movements to force universities to divest from weapons investments have made her a star in pro-Palestinian circles. Her running mate Butch Ware, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is Muslim.
This month Stein spoke at ArabCon in Dearborn, Michigan, an annual gathering of Arab Americans and was featured on the cover of The Arab American News under the headline “The Choice 2024.” Last week in an interview with The Breakfast Club, a New York radio program, she said, “Every vote cast for our campaign is a vote against genocide,” a charge that Israel denies.
Trump team campaigns for Arab American votes
At the same time, the Trump team has hosted dozens of in-person and virtual events with Arab Americans and Muslims in Michigan and Arizona, said Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting Director of National Intelligence.
“Arab American leaders in Detroit know this is their moment to send a powerful message to the Democrat party that they shouldn’t be taken for granted,” Grenell said. Trump has said he would secure more Arab-Israeli peace deals.
The Trump outreach and Stein’s appeal could translate into numbers that might threaten Harris. The Green Party is on most state ballots, including all battleground states that could decide the election, except for Georgia and Nevada, where the party is suing to be included.
Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by just thousands of votes in some states, thanks in part to the support of Arab and Muslim voters in states where they are concentrated, including Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes in 2020, but Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton there by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2016. The state is home to overlapping groups of more than 200,000 registered voters who are Muslim and 300,000 who report ancestry from the Middle East and North Africa.
In Philadelphia, which has a large Black Muslim population, activists have joined a national “Abandon Harris” campaign. They helped organize protests during her debate with Trump last week.
Philadelphia CAIR co-chair Rabiul Chowdhury said, “We have options. If Trump pledges to end the war and bring home all hostages, it’s game over for Harris.” Trump has said the war would never have erupted if he were president. It’s unclear how he would end it. Trump is a firm supporter of Israel.
In Georgia, where Biden won in 2020 by 11,779 votes, activists are rallying 12,000 voters to commit to withhold votes from Harris unless the Biden administration acts by Oct. 10 to halt all arms shipments to Israel, demands a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank, and pledges to uphold a US law that imposes an arms embargo on nations engaged in war crimes.
Thousands have already signed similar pledges in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
US Representative Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, said he worries about the impact the Gaza war will have in November. He said not only Arab Americans and Muslims, but a much broader group of younger voters and others are also upset.
“You can’t unring a bell,” he said, adding Harris still had “the space and grace” to shift gears, but time was running out.
