WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden insisted again Monday he would not quit the US election race, as the White House denied he had Parkinson’s disease following a disastrous debate performance.
The 81-year-old dared Democratic critics to either challenge him at next month’s party convention in Chicago or back him against Donald Trump in November’s vote.
The president lashed out in both a letter to Congress and a rare call to a television program, at the start of a critical week that includes a NATO summit in Washington where he will face fresh scrutiny.
“I am firmly committed to staying in the race,” Biden wrote in the letter.
“It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party and defeat Donald Trump,” he said. “It’s time for it to end.”
The embattled president followed up by phoning into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” television program to say he was “getting so frustrated by the elites” in the party.
“Any of these guys that don’t think I should run — run against me. Announce for president, challenge me at the convention,” he added.
Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet since the debate but he did speak out Monday on Fox News to say he thinks Biden will resist the pressure and stay in the race.
“He’s got an ego and he doesn’t want to quit,” Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity.
But even as he doubled down, the pressure mounted on the oldest president in US history.
Congressman Adam Smith, the senior Democrat on the US House Armed Services Committee, became the sixth Democratic lawmaker to publicly say Biden should step aside.
“I think it’s become clear he’s not the best person to carry the Democratic message,” he told CNN.
Other senior Democrats voiced support for Biden, however.
“I made clear that day after the debate publicly that I support President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket. My position has not changed,” House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN.
Biden’s blitz was a clear attempt to lay to rest the spiraling concerns over his health following the June 27 debate against Republican Trump, whom he trails in the polls.
During the debate, Biden repeatedly lost his train of thought, stared blankly and spoke at times incoherently and with a raspy voice. Biden has blamed jetlag and a cold.
The White House has also felt the pressure, with tense exchanges at a press briefing on Monday.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called for “respect” while journalists challenged her refusal to confirm reports that a Parkinson’s specialist visited the White House eight times.
The visits by Kevin Cannard, a neurologist from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where Biden receives his medicals, were recorded in publicly available visitor logs.
“Has the President been treated for Parkinson’s? No. Is he being treated for Parkinson’s? No, he’s not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No,” Jean-Pierre said.
On Monday night the White House went so far as to release a letter from Biden’s personal doctor, Kevin O’Connor, insisting that the president had not seen a neurologist outside his three annual medicals.
The White House also denied reports that NATO allies attending this week’s 75th-anniversary summit in Washington had shown concerns about Biden.
“We’re not picking up any signs of that from our allies at all,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
But NATO leaders have been seeking reassurance in any case amid polls forecasting a November victory for Trump.
The former president has long criticized the defense alliance, voiced admiration for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, and insisted he could bring about a quick end to the war in Ukraine.
The NATO summit begins on Tuesday, the same day that Democrats, returning to Capitol Hill from a brief recess, hold a caucus meeting where Biden’s fate will be discussed.
The Democrat lags behind Trump in most polls even though his rival was recently convicted of a felony in a porn star hush money case.
Defiant Joe Biden throws down gauntlet to Democrats
https://arab.news/zfdrw
Defiant Joe Biden throws down gauntlet to Democrats
- President dares Democratic critics to either challenge him at next month’s party convention in Chicago or back him against Donald Trump in November’s vote
UK’s Rwanda asylum scheme has cost 700 million pounds, says minister
“Two and a half years after the previous government launched (the Rwanda plan), I can report it has already cost the British taxpayer 700 million pounds,” she told parliament.
US Secret Service director on Trump shooting: ‘We failed’
- Monday’s hearing marked the first round of congressional oversight of the attempted assassination
WASHINGTON DC: US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted to Congress on Monday that she and her agency failed when a would-be assassin wounded Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a July 13 campaign rally in Pennsylvania this week.
“We failed. As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse,” Cheatle, who faces Republican calls for her removal, said in testimony before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee.
“The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades,” Cheatle said.
In the face of Republican claims that the Secret Service denied resources to protect Trump, she said security for the former president had grown ahead of the shooting.
“The level of security provided for the former president increased well before the campaign and has been steadily increasing as threats evolve,” Cheatle said. “Our mission is not political. It is literally a matter of life and death.”
Monday’s hearing marked the first round of congressional oversight of the attempted assassination. On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray will appear before the House Judiciary Committee. And House Speaker Mike Johnson is also due to unveil a bipartisan task force to serve as a nexus point for House investigations.
Cheatle has resisted calls for her resignation from top Republicans including Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Republican House Oversight Committee James Comer echoed those calls at the hearing.
“It is my firm belief, Director Cheatle, that you should resign,” the Kentucky Republican told her. “The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a significant budget. But it has now become the face of incompetence.”
Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly said, “Unacceptable incidents like this one highlight the fact that we are an increasingly polarized nation experiencing heightened political tensions.”
The shooting at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounded Trump in the ear, killed one rally attendee and injured another. The suspected shooter, 20-year-old nursing home aide Thomas Crooks, was killed by law enforcement. It is not clear what his motive was for the shooting.
The incident has angered lawmakers, who say the suspect was able to get within range of Trump on the rooftop of a nearby building because of security lapses at Cheatle’s agency, which is charged with protecting presidents and former presidents.
The House Judiciary Committee said last week that it has evidence the Secret Service was not properly resourced for Trump’s rally, because of staffing shortages created by a rival campaign event in Pittsburgh with Jill Biden and a NATO summit held days before in Washington.
Cheatle told lawmakers that the first lady agency protects 36 individuals daily, as well as world leaders who visit the United States including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to address a joint session of Congress this week.
President Joe Biden on Sunday ended his floundering reelection bid, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him as candidate. He vowed to serve through the end of his term on Jan. 20, 2025.
PM Starmer says UK warplane capability important amid defense review
- Britain, Japan and Italy signed an international treaty last year to set up the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP)
FARNBOROUGH, England: Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday stressed the importance of Britain’s fighter jet capability, but stopped short of guaranteeing its next generation combat air program with Japan and Italy would not be affected by a defense policy review.
“It’s important for me to put on record just how important a program this is,” Starmer said at the opening day of the Farnborough Airshow on Monday.
Britain, Japan and Italy signed an international treaty last year to set up the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) — merging their separate next-generation fighter efforts and aiming for a new aircraft to enter service by 2035.
But there has been speculation that Starmer’s new Labour government might downgrade or scrap the program after it launched a defense review, which will report next year.
Starmer noted the review, but said GCAP, also known as Tempest in Britain, was making “significant progress.”
“It is an important program and I know that people in the room will want to hear me say that,” he said.
“The defense secretary is holding a ministerial level meeting (...) in relation to this because of the significant benefits here in this country.”
Britain’s biggest defense company BAE Systems and aero-engineer Rolls-Royce are working on the multibillion-pound project alongside Italy’s Leonardo and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Herman Claesen, BAE’s managing director for the project, said the partners were working “at pace” toward the launch of international design and development next year.
He said progress on the “industrial construct” for developing the platform was good. “We are nearing completion on the activities on that one too in readiness for 2025,” he told reporters.
The program could be opened up to others at a later stage, Italy’s defense minister said in January, with the likes of Saudi Arabia possible contenders to join the project.
Leonardo’s GCAP chief Guglielmo Maviglia said expanding the partnership to Saudi Arabia was matter for the governments involved.
“What we can say is that we are developing a construct that is able and is open for other partners,” he said. “Partners are important because of course the export market is relevant for the business case.”
Bangladesh student group suspends protests for 48 hours over death toll
- What began as demonstrations against politicized admission quotas for sought-after government jobs snowballed into some of the worst unrest of PM Sheikh Hasina’s tenure
- A curfew has been imposed and soldiers are patrolling cities across the country, while a nationwide Internet blackout since Thursday has drastically restricted flow of information
DHAKA: The Bangladeshi student group leading demonstrations that have spiralled into deadly violence suspended protests Monday for 48 hours, with its leader saying they had not wanted reform “at the expense of so much blood.”
What began as demonstrations against politicized admission quotas for sought-after government jobs snowballed into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure.
A curfew has been imposed and soldiers are patrolling cities across the South Asian country, while a nationwide Internet blackout since Thursday has drastically restricted the flow of information to the outside world.
“We are suspending the shutdown protests for 48 hours,” Nahid Islam, the top leader of the main protest organizer Students Against Discrimination, told AFP from his hospital bed.
He was being treated for his injuries after being beaten by people he accused of being undercover police, he said.
“We demand that during this period the government withdraws the curfew, restores the Internet and stops targeting the student protesters.”
On Sunday, the Supreme Court pared back the number of reserved jobs for specific groups, including the descendants of “freedom fighters” from Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.
“We started this movement for reforming the quota,” Islam said.
“But we did not want quota reform at the expense of so much blood, so much killing, so much damage to life and property.”
At least 163 people have died in clashes, including several police officers, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals.
Sporadic violence continued Monday, with four people brought to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital with bullet injuries, an AFP reporter at the scene saw.
Government officials have repeatedly blamed the protesters and opposition for the unrest.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP that “at least 532” people had been arrested in the capital since protests began, including some leaders of the opposition Bangladesh National Party.
Ali Riaz, a professor of politics and leading Bangladesh expert at Illinois State University, described the violence as “the worst massacre by any regime since independence.”
“The atrocities committed in the past days show that the regime is entirely dependent on brute force and has no regard for the lives of the people,” he told AFP.
“These indiscriminate killings cannot be washed by a court ruling or a government announcement.”
Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus urged “world leaders and the United Nations to do everything within their powers to end the violence.”
“There must be investigations into the killings that have taken place already,” the 83-year-old said in a statement, his first public comments since the unrest began.
The respected economist is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank but earned the enmity of Hasina, who has accused him of “sucking blood” from the poor.
“Bangladesh has been engulfed in a crisis that only seems to get worse with each passing day,” Yunus said. “High school students have been among the victims.”
Diplomats in Dhaka questioned Bangladeshi authorities’ deadly response to the protests.
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud summoned ambassadors for a briefing on Sunday and showed them a 15-minute video that sources said focused on damage caused by protesters.
US ambassador Peter Haas told Mahmud he was presenting a one-sided version of events, according to a senior diplomatic official.
“I am surprised you did not show the footage of police firing at unarmed protesters,” the source quoted Haas as telling the minister.
A US embassy official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the ambassador’s comments.
The diplomatic source added that Mahmud did not respond to a question from a UN representative about the alleged use of UN-marked armored personnel carriers and helicopters to suppress the protests.
Bangladesh is a major contributor to UN peacekeeping operations around the world — earning significant revenues from its efforts — and has UN-marked equipment in its military inventories.
With around 18 million young people in Bangladesh out of work, according to government figures, the quota scheme’s reintroduction deeply upset graduates facing an acute jobs crisis.
The Supreme Court decision curtailed the number of reserved jobs from 56 percent of all positions to seven percent, most of which will still be set aside for the children and grandchildren of “freedom fighters” from the 1971 war.
While 93 percent of jobs will be awarded on merit, the decision fell short of protesters’ demands to scrap the “freedom fighter” category altogether.
Critics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists to Hasina’s ruling Awami League.
Opponents accuse her government of bending the judiciary to its will.
Hasina, 76, has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.
Her government is also accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.
Five killed in nursing home shooting in Croatia
- Unidentified gunman entered a nursing home in Daruvar — some 130 kilometers east of Zagreb — and began shooting
- Croatian newspaper Jutarnji list described the alleged shooter as a ‘retired military police officer’
DARUVAR, Croatia: A gunman opened fire in a nursing home in Croatia on Monday, killing at least five people, according to officials and state media, in a rare instance of gun violence in the Balkan country.
State broadcaster HRT said an unidentified gunman entered a nursing home in Daruvar — some 130 kilometers east of Zagreb — and began shooting.
At least five were killed and several others wounded during the incident, HRT said.
Police said they were informed of the incident at 10:10 a.m. local time (0810 GMT), and confirmed the suspect had entered the nursing home and used a firearm.
“The person linked to the perpetration of the crime is under police custody,” police said in a statement.
The number of dead was later confirmed by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who called for a thorough investigation by relevant officials.
“We are appalled by the murder of five people at the home for elderly in Daruvar,” Plenkovic said on social media.
The head of a regional emergency care facility, Nenad Mrzlecki, told local media that medical teams found four dead at the scene and four others wounded, who were immediately taken to local hospitals.
Mrzlecki did not provide information about the fifth victim.
“Our teams are still on the ground and the priority is to provide everyone with the necessary help, after that is done we will know the exact data on the number of victims,” he said.
Croatian newspaper Jutarnji list described the alleged shooter as a “retired military police officer” who killed his mother along with other residents and staff.
Daruvar, a town of some 7,000, has long been a popular spa destination thanks to the area’s thermal springs.
Shootings in the Balkan country are rare.
Last year in neighboring Serbia, the country was rocked by back-to-back mass shootings, including a massacre at a school in the capital in Belgrade in which 10 people were killed.
