WASHINGTON: Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday she believes the right to be safe is a civil right — and that means a right to live free from gun violence — as President Joe Biden signed an executive order that seeks to restrict new technologies that make guns easier to fire and obtain.
“It is a false choice to suggest you are either in favor of the Second Amendment, or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” Harris said during an event at the White House. “I am in favor of the Second Amendment and I believe we need to reinstate the assault weapons ban.”
Harris said the American people have a right to “live, work, worship and learn without fear of violence — including gun violence.”
The Democratic nominee for president leads the first-ever White House office of gun violence prevention, which aims to curb violence, help communities recover from the trauma of that violence and coordinate the federal response. But Harris often says during campaigning that she’s a gun owner and insists she doesn’t want to take weapons away from responsible firearms owners.
The president sat down as a crowd gathered around him to sign the order, then he handed the pen to Harris.
“Keep it going, boss,” he said.
The order directs the president’s staff to research how active shooter drills may cause trauma to students and educators in an effort to help schools create drills that maximize effectiveness and limit harm.
“We just have to do better and can do better,” Biden said, also calling for better funding for federal law enforcement. “Never thought I’d have to sign something like this, but we do.”
The order also establishes a task force to investigate the threats posed by machine-gun-conversion devices, which can turn a semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic firearm, and will look at the growing prevalence of 3D-printed guns, which are printed from an Internet code, are easy to make and have no serial numbers so law enforcement can’t track them. The task force has to report back in 90 days — not long before Biden is due to leave office.
The president has promised he and his administration will work through the end of the term, focusing on the issues most important to him. Curbing gun violence has been at the top of the 81-year-old president’s list.
He often says he has consoled too many victims and traveled to the scenes of too many mass shootings. Biden was instrumental in the passage of gun safety legislation and has sought to ban assault weapons. But there’s more to do, he says, and he’ll continue to work after he leaves office.
“It’s time we establish universal background checks and require safe storage of firearms,” Biden said. “Start holding parents accountable for being negligent.”
Overall, stricter gun laws are desired by a majority of Americans, regardless of what the current gun laws are in their state. That desire could be tied to some Americans’ perceptions of what fewer guns could mean for the country — namely, fewer mass shootings.
Gun violence continues to plague the nation. Four people were killed and 17 others injured when multiple shooters opened fire Saturday at a popular nightlife spot in Birmingham, Alabama, in what police described as a targeted “hit” on one of the people killed.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, in introducing the president, told the crowd about his personal experience with gun violence. His brother was shot to death and he heard his mother’s screams of pain.
“I heard that scream again this past Saturday, as the lives of four people were stolen and 17 other victims were shot during the horrific mass shooting in Birmingham,” he said.
Woodfin said curbing gun violence should not be partisan. “Saving lives should not be a Democrat or a Republican thing. Saving lives is the most American thing we can do together,” he said.
As of Thursday, there have been at least 31 mass killings in the US so far in 2024, leaving at least 135 people dead, not including shooters who died, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
The order was praised by gun-control groups, but criticized by Randy Kozuch, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, who said it was “just one more attempt by the Biden-Harris Administration to deflect attention from their soft-on-crime policies that have emboldened criminals in our country.”
Harris says the right to be safe is a civil right as Biden signs order on gun technology
https://arab.news/vba46
Harris says the right to be safe is a civil right as Biden signs order on gun technology
- Harris said the American people have a right to “live, work, worship and learn without fear of violence — including gun violence”
- Gun violence continues to plague the nation. There have been at least 31 mass killings in the US so far in 2024, leaving at least 135 people dead
Gunfire erupts near Guinea’s presidential palace and the military locks down the area
- 11 dissident soldiers opened fire on special forces guarding the presidential palace, but they were overpowered
- The West African nation has been led by a military regime since soldiers ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021
DAKAR, Senegal: Shots were fired late Thursday near the presidential palace in Guinea ‘s capital Conakry, and the army briefly locked down the city center and evacuated it.
Local journalist Fode Toure, who was a few hundred meters from the presidential palace, told The Associated Press he heard gunshots and saw people running away in panic. An AP reporter near the palace saw heavily armed soldiers patrolling the streets.
A diplomatic official close to Guinea’s leader told the AP that 11 dissident soldiers opened fire on the special forces around the presidential palace, but they were overpowered by the special forces. Three of the assailants were killed and eight others arrested, he said, adding that the situation was under control. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters.
The official said the soldiers were loyal to Col. Celestin Bilivogui, who disappeared almost a year ago in mysterious conditions following his arrest by the special forces. Bilivogui was found dead on Wednesday, his family and lawyers said.
The lockdown of the center of Conakry was later lifted.
The ruling junta denied that any gunshots took place calling it a “crazy” and “fabricated” rumor in a statement read on national television. It urged residents of the city center to go about their business.
The West African nation has been led by a military regime since soldiers ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021. The West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has pushed for a quick transition back to civilian rule and elections are scheduled for 2025.
Col. Mamadi Doumbouya, the country’s leader, overthrew the president three years ago, saying he was preventing Guinea from slipping into chaos and chastised the previous government for broken promises.
However, since coming to power he’s been criticized for being no better than his predecessor. In February, military leaders dissolved the government without explanation, saying a new one will be appointed.
Doumbouya has rebuffed attempts by the West and other developed countries to intervene in Africa’s political challenges, saying Africans are “exhausted by the categorizations with which everyone wants to box us in.”
Several West African nations including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have had coups that installed military juntas. They have severed or scaled back long-standing military ties with Western powers in favor of security support from Russia.
Harris slams Ukraine ‘surrender’ policy as Zelensky visits White House
- Harris' statement was clearly aimed at her Republican rival Donald Trump, who earlier implied that Ukraine should just accept defeat from Russia
- In his meeting with Zelensky, President Joe Biden announced a fresh military aid package worth nearly $8 billion for Kyiv and promised continued us backing
WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris on Thursday criticized her US election rival Donald Trump’s stance on Ukraine, describing it as a policy of “surrender” to Russia as she told President Volodymyr Zelensky that he could rely on her support.
Zelensky also met President Joe Biden to present his “victory plan,” with the White House announcing a fresh military aid package worth nearly $8 billion for Kyiv as it struggles on the battlefield in the third year of Moscow’s invasion.
Zelensky’s visit has been clouded by a blazing row with Republican presidential candidate Trump that underscored how November’s US election could upend the support that Ukraine receives from its biggest backer.
Harris did not mention Trump by name but said there were “some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality.”
“These proposals are the same of those of (President Vladimir) Putin. And let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender,” she said with Zelensky by her side.
During a separate meeting in the Oval Office with Zelensky, Biden pledged that “Russia will not prevail” in the war it launched in February 2022.
“Ukraine will prevail, and we’ll continue to stand by you every step of the way,” Biden said after thanking him for presenting the so-called victory plan.
Dressed in his trademark military-style outfit, Zelensky replied that “we deeply appreciate that Ukraine and America have stood side by side.”
ALSO READ: Trump says Ukraine is ‘dead’ and dismisses its defense against Russia’s invasion
Zelensky is looking to shore up support for his war effort as Biden tries to lock in aid for Ukraine, ahead of the white-knuckle US election on November 5.
Biden pledged nearly $8 billion in military aid on Thursday, including $5.5 billion to be authorized before it expires at the end of the US fiscal year on Monday.
Biden said in a statement that the “surge in security assistance for Ukraine” would “help Ukraine win this war.”
Biden also announced Washington would provide Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munition and called a summit of allies in Germany in October.
The White House however played down Ukraine’s hopes that Zelensky’s visit would achieve his long-held goal of getting permission to fire long-range Western-made missiles into Russian territory.
“I’m not expecting there to be any new announcements on this particular action or a decision coming out of this meeting,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Zelensky also visited the US Congress — where his government said he had also presented his victory plan — and gave a defiant address at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
But Zelensky’s visit has prompted fresh nuclear saber rattling from Moscow, which has repeatedly warned the West against giving Ukraine long-range arms.
Putin's nuclear weapons threat
Putin on Wednesday announced plans to broaden Moscow’s rules on the use of its atomic weaponry in the event of a “massive” air attack.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the nuclear threat “totally irresponsible” while EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano said Putin was making a “gamble with his nuclear arsenal.”
Kyiv faces an increasingly difficult battlefield situation two and a half years into Russia’s invasion, with Russian forces continuing to push into eastern Ukraine.
The US presidential election means Washington’s now support now hangs on the balance.
Trump had also been due to meet Zelensky during his US visit, but their talks appear to be on ice.
Trump accused Zelensky on the eve of the visit of refusing to strike a deal with Moscow and once again questioned why the United States was giving billions of dollars to Kyiv.
At an election rally on Wednesday, the Republican called the Ukrainian president “probably the greatest salesman on Earth.”
Republicans were livid after Zelensky visited an arms factory in Biden’s hometown in the battleground state of Pennsylvania earlier this week, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling for the Ukrainian ambassador to be sacked.
Trump has echoed many of Putin’s talking points about previous US policy being to blame for the Russian invasion, and has been critical of Zelensky for years.
Armenian prime minister says peace with Azerbaijan ‘within reach’
- Azeri troops seized last year the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, forcing its entire population of nearly 120,000 people to flee to Armenia
- Facing a weaker hand and the lack of intervention by Armenia’s historic ally Russia, Pashinyan sued for peace but faced protests from nationalists at home
UNITED NATIONS: Armenia’s prime minister said Thursday that peace with Azerbaijan was “within reach,” appealing to his neighbor to sign a treaty to turn the page on decades of conflict.
Exactly a year after Azerbaijan triumphed in a lightning military offensive, Armenia promised to meet a key demand of its historic rival: to ensure travel links.
“Today I want to say that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan not only is possible, but is within reach,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly.
“All we need to do is reach out and take it,” he said.
“The pain is very deep and intense, but we must now focus on peace, because peace is the only truth understandable to the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.
The two former Soviet republics had seen decades of war and tension over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway ethnic Armenian region in Azerbaijan.
After a series of slow-moving negotiations, Azerbaijan rushed in troops last year and swiftly seized back Nagorno-Karabakh, whose entire population of nearly 120,000 people fled to Armenia.
Facing a weaker hand and the lack of intervention by Armenia’s historic ally Russia, Pashinyan has insisted on the need for peace but faced protests from nationalists opposed to compromise.
In his UN address, Pashinyan said he was ready to meet the Baku government’s key demand of allowing transportation access across Armenian soil to the exclave of Nakhchivan, letting Azerbaijan connect its main territory with its traditional ally Turkiye.
“The Republic of Armenia is ready to fully ensure the safety of the passage of cargo vehicles and people on its territory. It is our wish, our commitment, and we can do it,” Pashinyan said, saying it could become a “crossroads of peace.”
Another key sticking point is Azerbaijan’s objections to a section of the Armenian constitution that speaks of uniting with Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan said that Armenia had its own issues with Azerbaijan’s constitution but that it did not see any obstacle as a peace agreement “solves the problem.”
Azerbaijan and Armenia both say that 80 percent of a treaty is ready, including border delineation, but Azerbaijan first wants a resolution of all issues.
Some diplomats view Azerbaijani strongman Ilham Aliyev’s stance as cynical, considering the difficulty that Pashinyan would have in changing the constitution.
The diplomats say Azerbaijan believes it can afford to wait as it has the clear upper hand, with its wealth from gas, a modernized military bolstered by Turkish weapons, and a rising international profile, with Baku in November the host of the COP29 climate summit.
Pashinyan insisted that Azerbaijan and Armenia should sign the draft treaty immediately, explaining, “There is no precedent of a peace agreement or any agreement that would regulate and solve everything.”
A treaty and diplomatic relations would improve “the overall atmosphere” between the two countries, which will “significantly facilitate the solution of the remaining issues,” Pashinyan said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the two countries’ foreign ministers on Thursday in New York.
Blinken “encouraged continued progress by both countries to finalize an agreement as soon as possible,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Kenya set for full Haiti deployment amid call for shift to UN mission
UNITED NATIONS: Kenya is aiming to complete its full deployment of a stabilization force in violence-torn Haiti by January, President William Ruto said Thursday, as Haiti’s leader suggested making it a UN peacekeeping mission.
The three-month-old security force to combat spiraling insecurity in the Caribbean nation is currently a Kenyan-led multinational policing operation, and changing it into a UN-mandated force would require a Security Council vote.
“Kenya will deploy the additional contingent toward attaining the target of all the 2,500 police officers by January next year,” Ruto said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.
“Kenya and other Caribbean and African countries are ready to deploy, but are hindered by insufficient equipment, logistics and funding,” he said.
Ruto called on member states to “stand in solidarity with the people of Haiti by providing necessary support.”
Criminal gangs control more than 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, as well as key roads around the country.
Edgard Leblanc Fils, the head of Haiti’s transitional council, told the General Assembly Thursday he “would like to see a thought being given to transforming the security support mission into a peacekeeping mission under the mandate of the United Nations.”
Leblanc Fils said that such a change would allow for the challenge of funding the mission to be resolved, while helping “to strengthen the commitment of member states to security in Haiti.”
“I am convinced that this change of status, whilst recognizing that the errors of the past cannot be repeated, would guarantee the full success of the mission in Haiti,” he said.
The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, which deployed from 2004 to 2017, was tarnished by accusations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers and the force’s accidental introduction of cholera, which killed some 10,000 people.
The United States has also backed consideration of putting the new force under the UN flag to ensure a predictable source of funding.
But the move faces daunting odds in the Security Council, where China and Russia hold veto power.
A draft UN Security Council resolution extending the mandate of the security mission contains a call “to consider” transforming the deployment into a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission.
It is due to be debated Monday.
Haitian interim prime minister Garry Conille warned Wednesday that “we’re nowhere near winning this” as he stressed the battle against the gangs would not be successful without outside help.
The United States announced on Wednesday $160 million of new aid for Haiti, bringing the amount of US aid to the troubled Caribbean country to $1.3 billion since 2021.
Leblanc Fils said his country still needed “much more in terms of personnel and also equipment to be able to solve the security problems and allow elections to take place.”
Washington on Wednesday also announced sanctions against two Haitians linked to the country’s powerful gangs.
Florida bracing for ‘unsurvivable’ Hurricane Helene
A powerful hurricane was barreling toward Florida on Thursday, with officials warning of “unsurvivable” conditions and a potentially catastrophic storm surge high enough to swamp a two-story house.
Tens of thousands of people were without power and roads were already flooded ahead of what is expected to be one of the largest Gulf of Mexico storms in decades.
Fast-moving Helene strengthened to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane Thursday evening, ahead of landfall expected around 11pm (0300 GMT), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
It was packing winds of 130 miles (215 kilometers) per hour as it churned over the Gulf’s warm waters toward the Big Bend area south of Florida’s capital city Tallahassee.
“EVERYONE along the Florida Big Bend coast is at risk of potentially catastrophic storm surge,” the NHC said on social media.
Tampa and Tallahassee airports have closed, with parts of St. Petersburg, downtown Tampa, Sarasota, Treasure Island and other cities on Florida’s west coast already flooded.
About 125,000 homes and businesses were without power.
“We’re expecting to see a storm surge inundation of 15 to 20 feet above ground level,” NHC director Mike Brennan said. “That’s up to the top of a second story building. Again, a really unsurvivable scenario is going to play out here in this portion of the Florida coastline.”
The accompanying waves “can destroy houses, move cars, and that water level is going to rise very quickly,” Brennan added.
In Alligator Point, a coastal town on a picturesque peninsula in the storm’s path, David Wesolowski was taking no chances.
“I just came to button up a few things before it gets too windy,” the 37-year-old real estate agent told AFP as he boarded up his house on stilts.
“If it stays on course, this is going to look different afterwards, that’s for sure,” he said, before taking his family to higher ground in Tallahassee.
Meanwhile, Patrick Riickert refused to budge from his small wooden house in Crawfordville, a town of 5,000 people a few miles inland.
As in Alligator Point, most residents have bolted and it looked like a ghost town, but Riickert, his wife and five grandchildren were “not going anywhere,” the 58-year-old insisted.
“I am going to hunker down” and ride out the hurricane, as he did in 2018 when deadly Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 megastorm, blew through the Florida panhandle.
The NHC warned of up to 20 inches (51 cm) of rain in some spots, and potentially life-threatening flooding as well as numerous landslides across the southern Appalachians.
The National Weather Service said the region could be hit extremely hard, with floods not seen in more than a century.
“This will be one of the most significant weather events to happen in the western portions of the area in the modern era,” it warned.
Tornado warnings went out across northern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
Georgia’s sprawling capital Atlanta was forecast to experience tropical storm-force winds and flash flooding from up to 12 inches of rain.
And Tennessee — more than 300 miles from the Gulf Coast — braced for tropical storm conditions statewide.
More than 55 million Americans were under some form of weather alert or warning from Hurricane Helene.
“This is going to be a multi-state event with the potential for significant impacts from Florida all the way to Tennessee,” Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters.
Vice President Kamala Harris said the White House was watching.
“The President and I, of course, are monitoring the case and the situation closely, and we urge everyone who is watching at this very moment to take this storm very seriously,” she told reporters.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mobilized the National Guard and ordered thousands of personnel to ready for search-and-rescue operations.
He warned that the powerful storm would be dangerous, and urged everyone to take precautions.
“We can’t control how strong this hurricane is going to get. We can’t control the track of the hurricane, but what you can control is what you can do to put yourself in the best chance to be able to ride this out in a way that’s going to be safe.”
Helene could become the most powerful hurricane to hit the United States in over a year — and almost certainly the biggest.
Hurricane specialist Michael Lowry called Helene “extreme,” noting its tropical storm winds of 39 mph or higher stretched nearly 500 miles across.
Researchers say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of hurricanes, because there is more energy in warmer oceans for them to feed on.
