Biden weighs presidential race exit as Trump prepares for big moment

Democrats at the highest levels are making a critical push for President Joe Biden to reconsider his election bid. (AP)
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Updated 19 July 2024
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Biden weighs presidential race exit as Trump prepares for big moment

  • Biden, 81, has faced increasing pressure from heavyweights in his party to cede his position at the top of the ticket
  • White House believes Pelosi behind effort to force him out

REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware/MILWAUKEE: President Joe Biden was “soul searching” about dropping his Democratic reelection campaign, a source said, while Donald Trump prepared to accept the Republican presidential nomination in what aides said would be an unusually reflective speech.
The fortunes of the two candidates appeared to be on opposite trajectories on Thursday in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election.
Biden, 81, was isolating at his Delaware home after contracting COVID-19, while facing a growing revolt from Democrats who urged him to step aside to avert a landslide defeat. His doctor said he was experiencing mild symptoms.
Trump, 78, has basked all week in adulation at the Republican National convention in Milwaukee after surviving Saturday’s assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally.
Trump’s acceptance speech, scheduled for 10 p.m. Eastern Time (0200 GMT on Friday), offers him a chance to lay out his vision for a second White House term before a prime time national television audience.
Biden has faced increasing pressure from heavyweights in his party to cede his position at the top of the ticket after an erratic June 27 debate performance against Trump. Former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those who have told him he cannot win in November, according to a White House source familiar with the matter.
After weeks of insisting that he will remain in the race, Biden is now taking calls to step aside seriously and multiple Democratic officials think an exit is a matter of time, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate — Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer — have told Biden directly that he will not only lose the White House but also endanger their effort to win back the House, according to reports in multiple news outlets.
Opinion polls show four of the seven most competitive states looking increasingly out of reach for Biden. The Trump campaign, meanwhile, said it believes it is now competitive in Democratic-leaning states including Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Virginia. “We’re expanding the map,” a senior campaign adviser speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters.
So far, only 20 out of 264 Democrats in Congress have publicly called on Biden to drop out following the debate while more have expressed their concerns privately. The debate raised questions about Biden’s ability to win and to carry on in a high-pressure job for another four years if he were to succeed.
Representative Adam Schiff, a senior House lawmaker running for a Senate seat in California, became the latest Democrat to call on Biden to bow out on Wednesday.
White House officials believe Schiff was backed by Pelosi, according to a White House source speaking on condition of anonymity. That could be an ominous sign for Biden, as the former House speaker is still one of the most influential Democrats in Washington. “Nancy is all over this. She doesn’t miss,” the source said.
Some lawmakers say Biden may now be more open to stepping aside.
“He’s done what’s best for America ... I think he’ll keep doing so,” Democratic US Senator John Hickenlooper told Reuters. “He’s working toward that.”
Hickenlooper declined to say whether he believed Biden should step aside as a candidate.
Former President Barack Obama has told others that Biden, who was Obama’s vice president, should rethink his candidacy, the Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources.

Republican unity
Trump will cap the four-day Republican convention with his first public address since the assassination attempt.
Lara Trump, the nominee’s daughter-in-law who serves as Republican National Committee co-chair, said the assassination attempt had prompted him to revise his acceptance speech and emphasize unity.
“I don’t think you can go through what he went through on Saturday, really a near-death experience, and not come out on the other side impacted,” Lara Trump said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who could vie for the Democratic nomination should Biden pull out, said Trump’s call for unity would have little credibility, given his persistent refusal to acknowledge his 2020 election defeat. “We’re too busy watching what you’re doing to hear what you’re saying,” she said at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
So far, the convention has highlighted the Republican Party’s broad support for Trump, with former rivals including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley offering strong endorsements of his candidacy.
With most dissent quelled and his grip on the party never tighter, Trump will be in a much stronger position than in his 2017-2021 term to follow through on his agenda if he wins the election.
While those in attendance spoke of uniting the country, many former party stalwarts, including some critics of Trump, were notably absent. Among them were former President George W. Bush, former Representative Liz Cheney, Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence and former Senator Mitt Romney.


Saudi doctors provide free eye surgery to hundreds of Sri Lankan patients

Updated 9 sec ago
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Saudi doctors provide free eye surgery to hundreds of Sri Lankan patients

  • Doctors conduct 500 cataract removal procedures in Walasmulla on the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka
  • Campaign will then move to the eastern city of Kattankudy, where another 500 patients will be treated

COLOMBO: Hundreds of Sri Lankan patients are set to receive eye surgery and specialist care this week under a blindness prevention program launched by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.

The Saudi Noor Volunteer Program, running between Nov. 4 and 9, is organized by KSrelief in the town of Walasmulla on the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka, hundreds of kilometers away from the capital Colombo. On Nov. 10-17, the campaign will move to the city of Kattakundy, further east.

Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness in Sri Lanka. Patients often have to wait for years to have them removed under government programs. At private clinics, the cheapest lens replacement procedure is too expensive for many patients in poorer parts of the country.

“There is big demand since poor people can’t afford surgery privately, which costs 100,000 rupees ($340) per person. There are many cataract patients in Sri Lanka but the facilities are few. There are long waiting lists for surgery,” M.S.M. Thassim, chairman of the Association of Muslim Youths — KSrelief’s local partner — told Arab News.

Patients wait for KSrelief-funded eye surgery in Kattankudy, Sri Lanka, on Nov. 5, 2024. (Association of Muslim Youths)

“We are doing it in two places; the first part is Walasmulla, which is finishing on Nov. 9, and we have already completed 400 surgeries and 100 more to go. Then at Kattankudy, which begins on Nov. 10, where another 500 will be performed.”

Some of the patients were already blind before the intervention of the KSrelief medical team, whose members have been praised for being “people friendly” and “committed” to their mission.

“The patients are full of gratitude to the Saudi government and the King Salman center for the noble intervention that restored their eyesight,” Thassim said.

The two-week eye care campaign in Walasmulla and Kattakundy is part of the Saudi government’s long-standing efforts to combat blindness in developing countries.

In Sri Lanka alone, 31,000 patients have undergone Saudi-sponsored surgery since 2001.


World must better adapt to ‘climate calamity’: UN chief Guterres

Updated 29 min 37 sec ago
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World must better adapt to ‘climate calamity’: UN chief Guterres

  • Global efforts to adapt to climate change have not kept pace as global warming accelerates the frequency and intensity of disasters
  • Antonio Guterres: ‘Climate calamity is the new reality. And we’re not keeping up’

PARIS: The world is nowhere near ready for the “calamity” being caused by climate change and must urgently prepare for even worse in the future, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday.
Global efforts to adapt to climate change – from building defensive sea walls to planting drought-resistant crops – have not kept pace as global warming accelerates the frequency and intensity of disasters.
Floods, fires and other climate shocks have affected nearly every continent in a year the EU climate monitor says is almost certain to be the hottest ever recorded.
The amount of money going to poorer countries for adaptation measures was barely one-tenth of what they needed to disaster-proof their vulnerable economies, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a new assessment looking at 2022, the latest year for which data is available.
“Climate calamity is the new reality. And we’re not keeping up,” said Guterres at the launch of UNEP’s annual Adaptation Gap Report.
Rich nations are under pressure at this month’s UN COP29 summit to substantially increase the $100 billion they pledged for climate action in developing countries, including for adaptation.
But some donor governments are under fiscal and political pressure, and major new commitments of public money are not expected at the conference in Azerbaijan.
A UN biodiversity meeting this month failed to reach a funding agreement and the election of Donald Trump – who opposes global climate cooperation – hangs over COP29.
Most of the public money committed to climate change goes to reducing planet-warming emissions, not adapting to its long-term consequences.
Some $28 billion in public finance was paid to developing countries for climate adaptation in 2022.
This was an increase on the year prior, but still a drop in the ocean: UNEP estimates between $215 billion and $387 billion is needed annually for adaptation in developing countries.
Rich countries had pledged to double the amount by 2025 to roughly $40 billion a year but even this would leave an “extremely large” adaptation funding gap, UNEP said.
Climate disasters hit poorest communities hardest but the cost of inaction was no longer borne by them alone, said Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation.
“From rising seas and extreme heat waves to relentless droughts and floods, the impacts of climate change now reach every corner of the globe. No nation, no community is immune,” he said in a statement.
Spanish authorities were accused of being inadequately prepared when a major storm brought flooding that killed over 200 people last month.
Climate scientists say that global warming is fueling more frequent and severe extreme weather.
“We can’t postpone protection. We must adapt – now,” Guterres said.


Vatican hopes for ‘wisdom’ from Trump

Updated 07 November 2024
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Vatican hopes for ‘wisdom’ from Trump

  • Parolin’s comments were the first diplomatic reaction from the Holy See to Trump’s win for the White House against Democrat Kamala Harris

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican’s secretary of state congratulated US president-elect Donald Trump Thursday, while expressing doubt that the Republican had a “magic wand” to end conflicts quickly as promised during the campaign.
“We wish him a lot of wisdom because that is the main virtue of leaders according to the Bible,” Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Rome.
Asked about Trump’s promise to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours,” Parolin replied: “Let’s hope, let’s hope. I believe that not even he has a magic wand.”
“To end wars, a lot of humility is needed, a lot of willingness is needed, it really is necessary to seek the general interests of humanity rather than concentrate on particular interests,” he said.
To overcome divisions in American society, Parolin said he hoped Trump would be “the president of the whole country.”
He also hoped he would be “a factor that reduces tension... in the current conflicts that are bloodying the world.”
Parolin’s comments were the first diplomatic reaction from the Holy See to Trump’s win for the White House against Democrat Kamala Harris.
Pope Francis has not reacted.
In September, the Argentine pope criticized both candidates, accusing them of being “against life” in different ways: for Harris’ support of abortion, and for Trump’s anti-migrant policies.
During his first term in the White House, in May 2017, Trump was received by the Pope at the Vatican for a half-hour meeting.


NATO chief hopes to tackle North Korea-Russia threat with Trump

Updated 07 November 2024
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NATO chief hopes to tackle North Korea-Russia threat with Trump

  • ‘What we see more and more is that North Korea, Iran, China, and of course Russia are working together, working together against Ukraine’

BUDAPEST: NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday he aimed to work jointly with returning US leader Donald Trump in confronting the “dangerous new developments” linked to North Korea’s entry into the Russian war on Ukraine.
“What we see more and more is that North Korea, Iran, China, and of course Russia are working together, working together against Ukraine,” Rutte told reporters at a European leaders’ meeting in Budapest.
“This is more and more a threat, not only to the European part of NATO, but also to the United States — because Russia is delivering the latest technology into North Korea,” he warned.
“I look forward to sit down with Donald Trump to discuss how we can face these threats collectively,” Rutte said.
North Korea has become one of the strongest backers of Russia’s full-scale offensive in Ukraine, and the West has long accused Pyongyang of supplying artillery shells and missiles to Moscow.
Based on intelligence reports, Western powers now believe Pyongyang has deployed around 10,000 troops to Russia, suggesting deeper involvement in the conflict.
Iran meanwhile stands accused of supplying Russia with missiles and drones, while China is suspected of helping Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions on technologies for use in the war against Ukraine.


Kyiv targeted in massive Russian drone barrage overnight

Updated 07 November 2024
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Kyiv targeted in massive Russian drone barrage overnight

  • Russia has systematically targeted the Ukrainian capital with drone and missile barrages
  • Kyiv was targeted by drone attacks on six days in the first week of November and 20 days in October

KYIV: Kyiv was targeted by another “massive” Russian drone attack that wounded two people, damaged buildings and sparked fires in several districts, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday.
Officials meanwhile in the south and east of the country said Russian attacks had killed two Ukrainian civilians in Kherson and Sumy.
Russia has systematically targeted the capital with drone and missile barrages since the first day of its invasion launched nearly three years ago on Febr. 24, 2022.
The capital was targeted by drone attacks on six days in the first week of November and 20 days in October, officials said.
“The attack took place in waves, from different directions, with drones entering the city at different altitudes — both very low and high,” the city administration said.
It added that more than 36 drones had been downed over the capital and the surrounding area and that falling debris had fallen on six districts of Kyiv and wounded two people.
AFP journalists heard air raid sirens ring out over the capital beginning shortly after midnight Kyiv time and the alert lasted some eight hours.
The reporters also heard drones buzzing over the city and air defense systems working to shoot down the drones.
The attack caused a fire in a 30-story residential building in the city center, and residents had to be evacuated, the mayor’s office said.
The head of the Kherson region meanwhile said the body of a deceased man was recovered from the rubble of a house destroyed by the attack in a Russian attack overnight.
In the eastern Sumy region, the body of another killed person was recovered following a Russian airstrike hours earlier, the interior ministry said.