Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace

US President Joe Biden, flanked by first lady Jill Biden and Rabbi Aaron Alexander of Adas Israel Congregation, lights a candle to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. (Reuters)
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Updated 07 October 2024
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Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace

  • Biden said “that history will also remember October 7 as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day”

WASHINGTON: A somber US President Joe Biden lit a candle Monday at a Jewish ceremony of mourning to mark a year since Hamas’s attacks on Israel, as he and Kamala Harris stepped up what have so far been futile calls for peace in the Middle East.
Biden condemned the October 7 attacks but also criticized the civilian death toll in Gaza, underscoring the tightrope that he and Democratic presidential hopeful Harris are treading on a conflict that could impact next month’s US election.
In a short ceremony at the White House, the 81-year-old president and First Lady Jill Biden stood in silence as a rabbi chanted a prayer for the dead, before Biden lit a single candle in memory of those killed.
“Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden lashed out at the “unspeakable brutality” of the October 7 attacks and said he and Harris were “fully committed” to Israel’s security against Iran and its regional allies — Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
But he also described October 7 as a “dark day for the Palestinian people” and said he and Harris “will not stop working to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza.”
Harris said she was “devastated by the loss and pain of the Israeli people” but added that she was “heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year.”
Both Biden and Harris said in their separate statements that a “diplomatic solution” as Israel pounds Lebanon to tackle the Hezbollah militia was the “only path” to a wider peace.
Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff will separately plant a memorial tree at the vice president’s residence in Washington, then deliver remarks at 4:00 p.m. (2000 GMT).
Republican Donald Trump, Harris’s rival in a tooth-and-nail election, was also due to take part in events in New York and Miami to mark the anniversary of the surprise attacks by Hamas, in which 1,205 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 251 taken hostage.
More than 41,909 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to data provided by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The United Nations has acknowledged these figures as reliable.
Protests against Israel’s war in Gaza were expected in New York and several US cities. A man set his arm on fire at a protest outside the White House on Saturday.
The Gaza war has caused political difficulties for Harris and Biden, with Arab and Muslim voters in key swing states and left-wing Democrats strongly opposed to the conflict.
The anniversary also underlines Biden and Harris’s apparent powerlessness to influence Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu’s conduct as the Middle East threatens to slide into full-scale war.
Israel is expected to retaliate imminently for a mass ballistic missile strike by Iran last week.
Biden has urged Israel not to attack Iran’s oil facilities, fearing it could push up oil prices, in turn hitting the US economy and harming Harris’s election chances.
Over the last year however Netanyahu has repeatedly ignored Biden’s calls for restraint.
Senior Democrats have questioned whether Netanyahu is trying to influence the election in favor of fellow right-winger Trump by holding off from any peace deal before the November 5 vote.
Biden said last week that “whether he’s (Netanyahu’s) trying to influence the election, I don’t know” but chided Netanyahu, saying that he “should remember” Washington’s strong support for Israel.
Trump has spoken little about the recent escalation in the Middle East in his campaign, although when he does he has blamed Biden and Harris for the crisis.
Last week Trump said he believes Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, after Biden advised against such an attack.


Frenchman on Indonesian death row to be sent home

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Frenchman on Indonesian death row to be sent home

Jakarta: A Frenchman on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for drug offenses will be sent back to his home country, an Indonesian minister said Friday.
Indonesia has in recent weeks released half a dozen high-profile detainees, including a Filipino mother on death row and the last five members of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug ring.
Senior law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra signed a deal for the transfer of Serge Atlaoui, a 61-year-old arrested in 2005 at a drug factory near Jakarta, in a video call with French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin.
“I think this is a process that has been quite long... but under the current government the negotiation has been relatively swift,” Yusril told reporters at a press conference alongside French ambassador to Indonesia Fabien Penone.
The deal caps months of talks for the transfer of the Frenchman, who will likely be repatriated on February 4, Yusril told AFP on Friday.
Atlaoui is currently suffering from an illness in a Jakarta prison and receives weekly treatment at a hospital, raising the stakes of his transfer.
“It is obviously a great relief to finally learn of the agreement concluded between France and Indonesia for the transfer of Serge,” Atlaoui’s French lawyer Richard Sedillot told AFP.
“These last few days have been difficult, since the conclusion of the agreement has been postponed several times,” he said.
Atlaoui’s fate upon his return to France remains unclear.
The father of four long maintained his innocence, insisting he was installing machinery in what he thought was an acrylics plant.
He was initially sentenced to life in prison, but the Supreme Court in 2007 increased the sentence to death.
Activists campaigning for an end to the death penalty hailed the agreement.
“We are delighted with this transfer decision... and to know that Serge Atlaoui can now return to France after everything he has experienced,” Raphael Chenuil-Hazan, executive director of NGO Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), told AFP.
He said Atlaoui “has largely served his sentence and well beyond that” and called for the French government to grant him clemency.
Atlaoui was held on the island of Nusakambangan in Central Java, known as Indonesia’s “Alcatraz,” following the death sentence, but he was later transferred to the city of Tangerang, west of Jakarta.
He was due to be executed in 2015 alongside eight other drug offenders, but won a reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure, with Indonesian authorities agreeing to let an outstanding appeal run its course.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.
At least 530 people are on death row in the Southeast Asian nation, according to data from rights group KontraS, mostly for drug-related crimes.
Indonesia’s Immigration and Corrections Ministry said more than 90 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, as of early November.
Last month, Filipino inmate Mary Jane Veloso tearfully reunited with her family after nearly 15 years on Indonesia’s death row.
The Indonesian government recently signalled it will resume executions, on hiatus since 2016.

US arrests, deports hundreds of ‘illegal immigrants’: Trump press chief

Updated 40 min 1 sec ago
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US arrests, deports hundreds of ‘illegal immigrants’: Trump press chief

  • Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States

Washington: US authorities arrested 538 migrants and deported hundreds in a mass operation just days into President Donald Trump’s second administration, his press secretary said late Thursday.
“The Trump Administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals,” Karoline Leavitt said in a post on social platform X, adding “hundreds” were deported by military aircraft.
“The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway. Promises made. Promises kept,” she said.
Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States.
On Thursday Newark city mayor Ras J. Baraka said in a statement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “raided a local establishment... detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant.”
The mayor said one of those detained during the raid was a US military veteran, “this egregious act is in plain violation” of the US Constitution.
An ICE post on X said: “Enforcement update ... 538 arrests, 373 detainers lodged.”
New Jersey Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim said they were “deeply concerned” about the Newark raid by immigration agents.
“Actions like this one sow fear in all of our communities — and our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics,” they said in a joint statement.
Trump has vowed to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history,” impacting an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States.
On his first day in office he signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”
His administration said it would also reinstate a “Remain in Mexico” policy that prevailed during Trump’s first presidency, under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.
The White House has also halted an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.
Earlier in the week the Republican-led US Congress green-lit a bill to expand pretrial incarceration for foreign criminal suspects.
Trump frequently invoked dark imagery about how illegal migration was “poisoning the blood” of the nation, words that were seized upon by opponents as reminiscent of Nazi Germany.


Southeast Asian cities among world’s most polluted, ranking shows

Updated 24 January 2025
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Southeast Asian cities among world’s most polluted, ranking shows

  • Air pollution is caused by a combination of crop-related burning, industrial pollution and heavy traffic
  • Weeks earlier, Vietnam’s capital Hanoi was ranked the world’s most polluted

BANGKOK: Southeast Asian cities were among five most polluted in the world on Friday according to air-monitoring organization IQAir, with Ho Chi Minh City ranked second-most polluted, followed by Phnom Penh and Bangkok fourth and fifth, respectively.
In the Thai capital, a thick smog was seen covering the city’s skyline. Workers, especially those who spend most of their time outdoors, were suffering.
“My nose is constantly congested. I have to blow my nose all the time,” said motorcycle taxi driver Supot Sitthisiri, 55.
Air pollution is caused by a combination of crop-related burning, industrial pollution and heavy traffic.
In a bid to curb pollution, the government is allowing free public transportation for a week, Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said.
Some 300 schools in Bangkok were closed this week, according to the city administration.
“They should take more action, not just announce high dust levels and close schools. There needs to be more than that,” said Khwannapat Intarit, 23.
“It keeps coming back, and it’s getting worse each time.”
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a social media post that companies and government agencies should allow staff to work from home to reduce car use and construction sites should be using dust covers.
“The government is fully committed to solving the dust problem,” she said.
In Vietnam’s largest city, IQAir said the level of fine inhalable particles in Ho Chi Minh City was 11 times higher than the recommended level by the World Health Organization.
Weeks earlier, the capital Hanoi was ranked the world’s most polluted, prompting authorities to issue a warning about the health risks from air pollution and urging the public to wear masks and eye protection.
Governments in Southeast Asia were pushing for longer-term solutions to bring pollution down including a carbon tax and promoting the use of electric vehicles.


‘Get them out’: freed Belarus prisoners fear for those still inside

Updated 24 January 2025
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‘Get them out’: freed Belarus prisoners fear for those still inside

  • The Viasna rights group says Belarus currently has 1,256 political prisoners, and all opposition leaders are either in jail or in exile

BIALYSTOK: Having missed almost four years of her son’s life while incarcerated in a Belarusian prison, Irina Schastnaya still wants to zip up the 14-year-old’s coat, struggling to digest how tall he grew in her absence.
German was 10 when security services broke into their home in Minsk, raiding the flat and arresting his mother in front of him for challenging authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule.
“I managed to say to him: ‘German don’t worry, everything will be fine,” she told AFP, recalling the November 2020 morning that “changed our lives forever.”
Her arrest was just one of a huge crackdown on dissent orchestrated by Lukashenko after tens of thousands protested his 2020 election victory, claiming widespread fraud.
In power since 1994, the Moscow ally is set to secure another term in power this weekend in an election with no real competition.
The Viasna rights group says Belarus currently has 1,256 political prisoners, and all opposition leaders are either in jail or in exile.
Within days of Schastnaya’s 2020 arrest, German’s father fled the country with the boy — settling in Kyiv, before leaving for Poland when it became clear Russia may invade Ukraine.
Schastnaya was sentenced to four years for editing a Telegram channel critical of the government.
Sent to Penal Colony Number Four in the city of Gomel, she was made to sew military and construction uniforms at the prison factory.
But she spent most of the time “thinking of German.”
They were allowed one video call a month — under the close watch of a prison officer.
“He did not like those calls,” she said. “He could literally see the person listening in the frame.”
They were reunited in September 2024, when Schastnaya was released and fled Belarus to join her family in Poland’s Bialystok — close to Belarus and long a hub for exiles.
“When I opened the door, I saw this tall guy,” she told AFP, still visibly shaken.
“It’s like heaven and earth. It’s not the same mothering... He was 10 when I was arrested, he still held my hand when we walked in the street.”
Like other ex-prisoners AFP spoke to, Schastnaya now has one wish: to get those who remain behind bars out — by all “possible and impossible” means.


Schastnaya says her son has adapted to life in Poland.
But she has not.
She often drives up to the nearby Belarus border, “just to have a look.”
A few months ago, she was in prison, sleeping on the top bunk in a room with some 30 women.
Like all political prisoners, her uniform and bed was marked with a “yellow label,” signifying a “tendency for extremism and other destructive activities,” she said.
After being released she decided to flee, fearing she would “not be free for long” or could be barred from leaving.
She is encouraged by a wave of pre-election pardonings back home, hoping more will come.
“We have to get them out any way possible,” she said.
“Some people have not seen their kids in years.”


In Poland’s Gdansk, former political prisoner Kristina Cherenkova, 34, has been scouring for information of those recently pardoned.
Authorities do not release names, but information trickles out through relatives and lawyers.
A wedding decorator, Cherenkova took part in 2020 protests in her small town of Mazyr and refused to leave Belarus when the crackdown started.
She was eventually arrested in 2022 for a social media post criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it launched in part from Belarusian territory.
Cherenkova also ended up in the Gomel prison, before being released last year.
“Around 10 percent of the women are political prisoners there,” she estimated.
“I am happy to see some of the names released. But there are a lot of people left, many friends.”
While in prison, she said she witnessed pardonings being delayed by slow Soviet-like bureaucracy.
Daria Afanasyeva, a Belarusian feminist living in Warsaw freed last year, also said “everything should be done” to secure freedom for more political prisoners — “including talks with the regime.”
“It’s not just one person in prison, it’s their whole family,” the pink-haired activist said, adding that many feel intense “guilt” for relatives suffering on the outside.
Arrested in 2021, Afanasyeva said the solidarity among political prisoners helped her through her 2.5-year sentence.
“Thanks to the KGB for getting me a best friend,” she joked.
But the prison ordeal still “eats up” her life.
“There is snow in Warsaw, people are happy... But I’m just thinking that if there’s snow in the prison, the girls there are clearing it.”


Afghan women’s group hails court’s move to arrest Taliban leaders for persecution of women

Updated 24 January 2025
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Afghan women’s group hails court’s move to arrest Taliban leaders for persecution of women

  • The Afghan Women’s Movement for Justice and Awareness called the ICC decision a “great historical achievement”

An Afghan women’s group on Friday hailed a decision by the International Criminal Court to arrest Taliban leaders for their persecution of women.
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced Thursday he had requested arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials, including the leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Since they took back control of the country in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from jobs, most public spaces and education beyond sixth grade.
In a statement, the Afghan Women’s Movement for Justice and Awareness celebrated the ICC decision and called it a “great historical achievement.”
“We consider this achievement a symbol of the strength and will of Afghan women and believe this step will start a new chapter of accountability and justice in the country,” the group said.
The Taliban government has yet to comment on the court’s move.
Also Friday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said it was a “tragedy and travesty” that girls remain deprived of education.
“It has been 1,225 days — soon to be four years — since authorities imposed a ban that prevents girls above the age of 12 from attending school,” said the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva. “It is a travesty and tragedy that millions of Afghan girls have been stripped of their right to education.”
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that explicitly bars women and girls from all levels of education, said Otunbayeva.