WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday invited congressional leaders to a White House briefing on border security as the partial government shutdown dragged on over funding for a border wall, with Trump tweeting, “Let’s make a deal?“
The briefing will happen at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday, the day before the Democrats take control of the House, but the exact agenda wasn’t immediately clear, according to a person with knowledge of the briefing who was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Republican leaders will be attending. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as the top incoming House Republicans, Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalize of Louisiana, are planning to be at the briefing, according to aides. Retiring Speaker Paul Ryan will not.
Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to take over as House speaker, and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer will also be in attendance.
Pelosi said Democrats would take action to “end the Trump Shutdown” by passing legislation Thursday to reopen government.
“We are giving the Republicans the opportunity to take yes for an answer,” Pelosi wrote In a letter to colleagues late Tuesday. “Senate Republicans have already supported this legislation, and if they reject it now, they will be fully complicit in chaos and destruction of the President’s third shutdown of his term.”
The White House invitation comes after House Democrats released their plan to re-open the government without approving money for a border wall — unveiling two bills to fund shuttered government agencies and put hundreds of thousands of federal workers back on the job. They planned to pass them as soon as the new Congress convenes Thursday.
Trump spent the weekend saying Democrats should return to Washington to negotiate, firing off Twitter taunts. He then revised his aides’ comments to state that he really still wants to build a border wall.
On Tuesday morning, after tweeting a New Year’s message to “EVERYONE INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA,” Trump tweeted: “The Democrats, much as I suspected, have allocated no money for a new Wall. So imaginative! The problem is, without a Wall there can be no real Border Security.”
But he seemed to shift tactics later in the day, appealing to Pelosi. “Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker! Let’s make a deal?” he tweeted.
Whether the Republican-led Senate, under McConnell, would consider the Democratic bills — or if Trump would sign either into law — was unclear. McConnell spokesman Donald Stewart said Senate Republicans would not take action without Trump’s backing.
“It’s simple: The Senate is not going to send something to the president that he won’t sign,” Stewart said.
Even if only symbolic, the passage of the bills in the House would put fresh pressure on the president. At the same time, administration officials said Trump was in no rush for a resolution to the impasse.
Trump believes he has public opinion on his side and, at very least, his base of supporters behind him, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
White House officials, including the departing chief of staff, had indicated that Trump’s signature campaign pledge to build the wall would not be fulfilled as advertised. Chief of staff John Kelly told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Sunday that Trump abandoned the notion of “a solid concrete wall early on in the administration.”
The Democratic package to end the shutdown would include one bill to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security at current levels — with $1.3 billion for border security, far less than the $5 billion Trump has said he wants for the wall — through Feb. 8 as talks continued.
It would also include another measure to fund the departments of Agriculture, Interior, Housing and Urban Development and others closed by the partial shutdown. It would provide money through the remainder of the fiscal year, to Sept. 30.
Democrats under Pelosi were all but certain to swiftly approve the package in two separate votes Thursday. They would take place after the election of a new House speaker, a contest Pelosi was expected to win as leader of the new House majority.
The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the House proposal. Republican senators left for the holidays refusing to vote on any bills until all sides, including Trump, were in agreement. The lawmakers were frustrated that Trump had dismissed their earlier legislation.
The president has not said he would veto the Democratic legislation, if the bills were to land on his desk. But a prolonged crisis could hobble House Democrats’ ability to proceed with their agenda, which includes investigations of the president and oversight of his administration, including Russian interference in the 2016 election.
At least one Republican, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, encouraged Trump to use the budget impasse as an opportunity to address issues beyond the border wall. But a previous attempt to reach a compromise that addressed the status of “Dreamers” — young immigrants brought to the US as children — broke down last year as a result of escalating White House demands. Graham said Trump was “open minded” about his proposal.
The partial government shutdown began Dec. 22 after Trump bowed to conservative demands that he fight to make good on his vow and secure funding for the wall before Republicans lose control of the House on Wednesday. Democrats have remained committed to blocking any funding for the wall.
With neither side engaging in substantive negotiation, the effect of the partial shutdown was set to spread and to extend into the new year.
Congress leaders invited to White House for border briefing
Congress leaders invited to White House for border briefing
- Trump spent the weekend saying Democrats should return to Washington to negotiate, firing off Twitter taunts. He then revised his aides’ comments to state that he really still wants to build a border wall
Arrests of pro-Palestine student protesters were rights violations, New York City mayoral candidate tells Arab News
- Zohran Mamdani urges ‘one set of rules’ for all city’s people
- Majority of New York Democrats want ‘end to the genocide’
CHICAGO: New York Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, who is running for mayor of the city, has vowed to reverse the policies he claims Mayor Eric Adams imposed that punished pro-Palestine student protesters last spring.
More than 1,000 students were arrested and injured during a citywide police crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters, while those supporting Israel were reportedly not targeted.
Many of the pro-Palestinian students were expelled from their universities or denied graduation because of the protests over 10 days last April.
Mamdani, who led a hunger strike in front of the White House last November to push for a Gaza ceasefire resolution, said that an American mayor should apply the law and morality equally to all the city’s people.
“It’s a position I hold as a reflection of consistency no matter the issue. It is one that is in line with the positions I hold when it comes to my own constituents.
“What I mean by that is I think New Yorkers are tired of politicians who speak out of both sides of their mouths, who have one set of rules for one set of people and then another set of rules for another set of people,” Mamdani said Thursday.
He added: “I think it’s time that we simply believe in the same things for all people. So, if we say that we believe in freedom and justice and safety and liberty, then how can we continue to draw the line at Palestinians?
“We know that the more you draw a line, the easier it gets to draw that line for more and more people, and the more you will end up justifying that which you might have previously considered to be unjustifiable.”
Mamdani said that if elected in the June 24, 2025, Democratic primary election, he would “treat everyone equally.”
“I think it absolutely extends also into policies and day-to-day impacts for New Yorkers, with one example to me being that as Democrats, we often rightfully talk about how guns on elementary school campuses, middle school campuses, high school campuses make that campus more unsafe.
“And we ridicule this Republican notion that the answer to gun violence is simply more armed officers on those sites of education,” Mamdani said.
“And yet when it comes to student organizing in support of policy and human rights, there were far too many elected officials in New York City who were supportive of the mayor’s decision to send the NYPD (New York Police Department) into Columbia and CUNY (City University of New York) campuses.
“And it is my belief in the necessity of consistent politics that leads me to say I will not be sending the police in to respond to an encampment of the like that we saw in the previous school year.
“Because the act of doing so actually made students far less safe than they were even prior to that, because one officer discharged their weapon in the course of that mission.
“And that is but a moment away from a student being killed by the NYPD. And I think it made it very crystal clear to me as to why we tend to oppose these things and why we need to do so no matter what the issue is.”
Mamdani said that mayor Adams, pro-Israel legislators and elected officials mischaracterized the student protests to justify both their defense of Tel Aviv and the assault on the protesters.
“I think it’s a mischaracterization of New Yorker sentiments. I think that a majority … especially of New York Democrats, want to see an end to the genocide, want to see a ceasefire.”
He said many have taken “umbrage at having a mayor who has refused to call for a ceasefire for more than a year, who has justified the killing of children, who has had meetings with billionaires, who have urged him to send in the police.”
Mamdani claimed that Adams had previously visited Israel “with a promise to increase cooperation with settlement leaders there.”
Mamdani said he has been attacked because of his insistence to stand up to one morality and one rule of law, denying that he is “antisemitic” or “anti-Israel.”
He fears that the damage caused by Tel Aviv’s actions, including the expansion of the Jewish-only settler movement, would prevent the two-state solution which is a part of the Democratic Party’s foreign policy on Israel and Palestine.
Mamdani insisted many New York voters who are Jewish defend Palestinian lives. “There is a large and beautiful Jewish population across New York City, and it is also like any other religions, politically diverse.
“And many of the acts of civil disobedience and protests that I’ve been a part of over the last year calling for a ceasefire, calling for an arms embargo, have in fact been led by Jewish New Yorkers.
“Thousands of Jewish New Yorkers. I’m proud to have been endorsed by Jewish Voice for Peace Action as the first-ever municipal candidate that they have endorsed in their history as an organization.”
Mamdani said he could win the election with his policies which include helping residents face the city’s “cost of living crisis.” If elected, he would provide universal and free childcare.
In addition, he would freeze the rent of more than 2 million New Yorkers in rent-stabilized apartments; and eliminate the fare on all city buses and make them faster (currently they are the slowest in the nation).
He would also lower the cost of groceries by piloting city-owned stores; and institute a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to public safety.
In 2020, Mamdani was the first South Asian man and only third Muslim elected to the New York State Assembly representing western Queens, New York.
He is the first Muslim elected official to run for mayor or any citywide office in New York City. He identifies both as a “socialist,” which he defines as serving all citizens justly and legally, and as a member of the Democrat Party.
If he wins the Democratic Party nomination, he will represent the party in the general election in November 2025.
Mamdani bids to replace incumbent Adams who faces multiple charges of bribery and campaign offenses.
Adams is alleged to have committed the offences over a decade while mayor and as the president of the Brooklyn borough.
He was elected New York City mayor in November 2021 having defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Joe Biden cancels another $4.28 billion in US student loans
- Actions are a part of Biden’s effort to fulfill his 2020 campaign pledge to deliver debt relief to millions of Americans
The Biden administration on Friday canceled another $4.28 billion in student debt for nearly 55,000 public service workers, the US Department of Education said in a statement.
Friday’s action brings the total public service student loans forgiven to about $78 billion for nearly 1.1 million workers, the department said.
The White House said separately that this brings the total number of all individuals who have been approved for student debt relief under President Joe Biden to nearly 5 million people.
The actions are a part of Biden’s effort to fulfill his 2020 campaign pledge to deliver debt relief to millions of Americans before he leaves office in January.
US charges ‘Chinese agent’ over political influence
- Yaoning “Mike” Sun arrested near LA on charges he acted as agent for foreign government while getting involved in local politics
- Asked about the charges on Friday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware of the details in the case you mentioned”
LOS ANGELES, United States: China’s ruling Communist Party used an agent in California to influence state politics, US prosecutors said Thursday as they unveiled criminal charges against a Chinese national.
FBI agents arrested Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, at his home in Chino Hills, near Los Angeles, on charges that he acted as an agent for a foreign government while getting involved in local politics.
The complaint claims Sun served as the campaign manager and close confidante for an unnamed politician who was running for local elected office in 2022.
During the campaign, he is alleged to have conspired with Chen Jun — a Chinese national sentenced to prison last month for acting as an illegal agent of Beijing — regarding his efforts to get the politician elected.
The US Department of Justice said Chen discussed with Chinese government officials how they could influence local politicians, particularly on the issue of Taiwan.
China considers the self-ruled island of Taiwan part of its territory.
Beijing — which has said it would never rule out using force to bring Taiwan under its control — has been accused of using local influence campaigns, among other tactics, to sway global opinion on the issue.
Charging documents say after the local politician won office in late 2022, Chen instructed Sun to prepare a report on the election to be sent to Chinese government officials, who expressed their thanks for his work.
“The conduct alleged in this complaint is deeply concerning,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.
“We cannot permit hostile foreign powers to meddle in the governance of our country.”
Sun was charged with one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
He also faces one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of five years.
Asked about the charges on Friday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware of the details in the case you mentioned.”
But spokesman Lin Jian said “China never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries.”
“The international community sees clearly who is actually wantonly interfering in the internal affairs of other countries,” he said during a regular briefing.
Germany FM warns of new Syria violence ahead of Turkiye visit
- Her trip to Ankara comes almost two weeks after Islamist-led rebels overthrew Syrian president Bashar Assad
- She warned Syria must not become “the plaything of foreign powers or an experiment for radical forces”
BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against the threat of “new violence” in Kurdish-held northern areas of Syria as she left for a visit to neighboring Turkiye on Friday.
Her trip to Ankara comes almost two weeks after Islamist-led rebels overthrew Syrian president Bashar Assad, sparking popular jubilation but also concern about new turmoil.
“Those who want peace in the region must not undermine the territorial integrity of Syria,” she said in a statement.
Syria’s future is “hanging by a thread,” said Baerbock, who was set to meet her Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan as well as members of the large Syrian refugee community on her one-day visit.
Before leaving Berlin, Baerbock said that people in the Kurdish-held northern Syrian border town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, were “holding their breath again” in fear of “new violence.”
Turkiye has thousands of troops in northern Syria and also backs a proxy force there which has engaged in ongoing clashes with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed and Kurdish-led force.
Ankara sees the SDF as an extension of its domestic nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and said on Thursday that it would continue to push for Kurdish fighters in northern Syria to disarm.
The SDF on Thursday accused Turkiye and allied fighters of not respecting a ceasefire around the northern town of Manbij and encouraged residents to “take up arms against the (Turkish) occupation.”
Also on Thursday, thousands of people in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli demonstrated in support of the SDF and chanted against “Turkiye’s attack” in the region.
Baerbock said that Syria’s reconstruction and the return of refugees “can only work if people have no more fear of persecution.”
“This should also be in the interest of the Turkish government, as more than three million Syrian refugees live in Turkiye.”
She warned that Syria must not become “the plaything of foreign powers or an experiment for radical forces.”
Germany has also urged Israel to abandon plans to step up settlement in the occupied and annexed Golan Heights at the southwestern edge of Syria.
Israel seized the demilitarised zone there after Assad fell and launched hundreds of strikes on Syria to destroy the former government’s military assets.
King Charles’ cancer treatment progressing well, will continue next year
- 2024 has been ‘brutal’ for family
- Princes Andrew and Harry absent from Christmas get-together
LONDON: King Charles’ cancer treatment is progressing well and will continue into next year, a Buckingham Palace source said, as the British royals prepare for their annual Christmas get-together after a “brutal” year for the family.
In February, the palace revealed the 76-year-old, who became king in 2022, had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer detected in tests after a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate.
While he was able to return to public duties two months later, the number of engagements has been limited on medical advice, something which the noted workaholic has found difficult.
“His treatment has been moving in a positive direction and as a managed condition the treatment cycle will continue into next year,” the palace source said on Friday.
The palace source said there had been no change in Charles’ health and the news that his treatment would continue in 2025 did not represent any significant update.
But his busy pre-Christmas schedule, which concludes on Friday with a visit to the northeast London district of Walthamstow that staged a large counter-protest in August in response to nationwide rioting, was an indication of his determination to stay busy.
In October, Charles and his wife Camilla made a brief stopover in India where they stayed at a holistic health center following his first major trip since being diagnosed with cancer to Australia and Samoa.
Overall the last year has been difficult for the royals.
The disclosure in March that the king’s daughter-in-law Kate, the wife of heir Prince William, was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer was another shock.
While her treatment has now ended, her return to official engagements has been limited and she said her path to full recovery would be long. William said it had been the hardest 12 months of his life and “brutal” for the family.
But it has not just been health issues that have put the Windsors in the spotlight. The king’s younger brother Prince Andrew was embroiled in another scandal this month after a close business associate of his was banned from Britain over government suspicions he was a Chinese agent.
The royal finances have also come under media scrutiny while Charles was heckled by an Indigenous senator at Australia’s Parliament House during his tour there, a reflection of ongoing questions about Britain’s colonial past.
Meanwhile, the king’s younger son Prince Harry remains estranged from the family and more royal secrets are likely to be aired when he gives days of evidence in the witness box in his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group.
Both Harry and Andrew will be absent when the royals gather for their traditional festive gathering at the king’s Sandringham home in eastern England, a very visual demonstration of those problems.
