LANSING, Michigan: Donald Trump on Friday met with Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan — the nation’s largest Arab-majority city — as the Republican presidential nominee works to court the potentially decisive group despite his history of Islamophobic rhetoric and policy.
Trump was greeted with cheers and applause from a modest crowd at The Great Commoner restaurant in one of his campaign’s final attempts to garner support in the key battleground state.
Metro Detroit is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Arab Americans, with a large chunk of them living in Dearborn. The city — which Democrat Joe Biden won by a 3-to-1 margin in 2020 — has been roiled by political turmoil, with many upset with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
Democrats worry that anger over the war will lead traditionally loyal voters to shift their votes to Trump or third-party candidates like Jill Stein — or skip the top of the ballot altogether. This could prove pivotal in Michigan, a state both parties see as a toss-up.
While the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has been working through surrogates to ease community tensions, Trump’s visit marked the first by either candidate, according to a local leader, Osama Siblani. Earlier this year, Harris met with the city’s Democratic mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, though their discussion took place outside Dearborn.
The meeting with Arab supporters Friday follows Trump’s rally in Michigan last week, when he brought local Muslims up onstage with him. Trump has also received endorsements from two Democratic mayors of Muslim-majority cities.
“It is time to prioritize our nation’s best interests and foster lasting peace for all,” Albert Abbas, an Arab American, said Friday while standing next to Trump. “This current administration has failed miserably in all aspects of humanity.”
He added, “We look to a Trump presidency with hope and envisioning a time where peace flourishes, particularly in Lebanon and Palestine.”
While many Democratic leaders in the Arab community have not endorsed Harris, they are still deeply negative toward Trump and say his endorsements don’t reflect a majority of the community. They remember his call for a “total and complete shutdown” on Muslims entering the country and his travel restrictions on visitors from Muslim-majority countries. And some point out that Trump has suggested he would give Israel even more leeway to attack its rivals in the region.
Top community leaders in Dearborn, including Hammoud, declined an invitation to meet with Trump while he was in town. Many community leaders say that while Harris has never earned their endorsement, they are still overwhelmingly opposed to Trump.
Siblani, a prominent figure in the community who has engaged with Democratic leaders about ongoing tensions, noted that many “do not trust” Trump because of his past policies and remarks. However, he emphasized the significance of Trump’s visit to Dearborn.
“Kamala should have done this months ago,” Siblani said.
Harris defended her record on the issue Friday, telling reporters that she’s “proud to have significant amount of support from the Arab American community,” while adding that she continues to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
Israel invaded Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and last month launched an invasion of Lebanon to suppress Hezbollah, the militia that has continuously launched rockets into Israeli territory. At least 43,000 people have died in Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish in its death toll between combatants and civilians.
Abbas said Trump allies had reached out to him several weeks ago about hosting Trump in Dearborn. Before hosting Trump, Abbas said he wanted to see a statement from Trump that he said showed Trump “has the intentions of ending the war and helping us rebuild Lebanon and helping the displaced and the injured.”
That statement came Wednesday, when Trump posted on X that he wanted to “stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon.”
“I will preserve the equal partnership among all Lebanese communities,” Trump said on X. “Your friends and family in Lebanon deserve to live in peace, prosperity, and harmony with their neighbors, and that can only happen with peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Once Trump put out the statement, Abbas said he agreed to host the event.
Trump meets with Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan, but top community leaders skipped the event
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Trump meets with Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan, but top community leaders skipped the event
- Metro Detroit is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Arab Americans, with a large chunk of them living in Dearborn
- The city is a Democratic bailiwick many supporters are upset with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war
- But many community leaders say that while Harris has never earned their endorsement, they are still overwhelmingly opposed to Trump
Ukraine appoints new prosecutor general
The prosecutor general’s post has remained vacant since October
KYIV: Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday appointed Ruslan Kravchenko, one of the key investigators of alleged Russian war crimes during the occupation of the Kyiv region in 2022, as prosecutor general.
Kravchenko, 35, is now head of the state tax administration, and before that chaired the Kyiv region military administration.
He was involved in the recording and prosecuting of alleged Russian atrocities in the town of Bucha, which was occupied for 33 days in the early stages of Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Russia denies accusations of numerous executions, rapes and torture during the occupation.
Kravсhenko was also a prosecutor in Ukraine’s ousted President Viktor Yanukovych’s treason case.
The prosecutor general’s post has remained vacant since October, after Andriy Kostin resigned following a scandal around officials receiving fake disability status and avoiding military service.
Pope Leo to escape Rome’s summer heat with July stay at Castel Gandolfo
- The pontiff will spend July 6 to 20 about an hour’s drive south in Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican said
- All of Leo’s public and private audiences have been suspended from July 2 through July 23
VATICAN CITY: As temperatures in Rome swelter this month, reaching more than 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) under the hot Mediterranean sun, Pope Leo has decided to leave town.
The pontiff will spend July 6 to 20 about an hour’s drive south in Castel Gandolfo, a small hamlet on Lake Albano, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
Leo, elected pope on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, will also return to the lakeshore for at least one weekend in August, it said.
All of Leo’s public and private audiences have been suspended from July 2 through July 23, the Vatican said, as was usual under Francis, to allow the pontiff a period of rest. They will restart on July 30.
By going to Castel Gandolfo, Leo is restarting a summer tradition that was broken by Francis.
Dozens of popes over centuries have spent the summer months at Lake Albano, where temperatures are usually about ten degrees cooler than Rome, but Francis preferred to stay in his air-conditioned Vatican residence.
The Vatican has owned a papal palace and surrounding grounds in Castel Gandolfo since 1596. Spanning 55 hectares, the property includes official apartments, elaborate Renaissance-style gardens, a forest and a working dairy farm.
Francis, who shunned most of the trappings of the papacy, had the official papal palace turned into a museum.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told Reuters the pope would not stay at the palace, which will remain a museum, and will instead stay on another Vatican property.
Leo will return to Castel Gandolfo for the weekend of August 15 to 17.
August 15, a Catholic feast day to celebrate Mary, the Mother of God, is an Italian public holiday. Many Italians spend that day, and much of August, at the beach.
Black boxes from India plane crash under study to ascertain cause of the disaster that killed 270
- A former pilot and an aviation expert said the recovery of the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, or black boxes, are crucial to piece together the sequence of events
NEW DELHI: Investigators in India are studying the black boxes of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner after recovering them from the aircraft wreckage to ascertain the cause of last week’s plane crash that left at least 270 people dead.
The black boxes will provide cockpit conversations and data related to the plane’s engine and control settings to investigators and help them in determining the cause of the crash.
The London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed on a medical college hostel soon after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, while 241 people on board and 29 on the ground were killed in one of India’s worst aviation disaster in decades.
Experts from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are probing the crash with assistance from the UK, the US and officials from Boeing.
Black box data is crucial
Amit Singh, a former pilot and an aviation expert, said the recovery of the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, or black boxes, are crucial to piece together the sequence of events.
The cockpit voice recorder records pilots’ conversation, emergency alarms and any distress signal made before a crash. The plane’s digital flight data recorder stores information related to engine and control settings. Both devices are designed to survive a crash.
“The data will reveal everything,” Singh said, adding that the technical details could be corroborated by the cockpit voice recorder that would help investigators know of any communication between air traffic control and the pilots.
India’s aviation regulatory body has said the aircraft made a mayday call before the crash.
Singh said the investigating authorities will scan CCTV footage of the nearby area and speak with witnesses to get to the root cause of the crash.
Additionally, Singh said, the investigators will also study the pilot training records, total load of the aircraft, thrust issues related to the plane’s engine, as well as its worthiness in terms of past performances and any previously reported issues.
Investigation into the crash could take time
Aurobindo Handa, former director general of India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, said the investigators across the world follow a standard UN-prescribed Manual of Accident Investigation, also called “DOC 9756,” which outlines detailed procedures to arrive at the most probable cause of a crash.
Handa said the investigation into last week’s crash would likely be a long process as the aircraft was badly charred. He added that ascertaining the condition of the black boxes recovered from the crash site was vital as the heat generated from the crash could be possibly higher than the bearable threshold of the device.
The Indian government has set up a separate, high-level committee to examine the causes leading to the crash and formulate procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future. The committee is expected to file a preliminary report within three months.
Authorities have also begun inspecting and carrying out additional maintenance and checks of Air India’s entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners to prevent any future incident. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.
The plane that crashed was 12 years old. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts.
Russian media say top official is in Pyongyang again to meet North Korean leader
SEOUL: A top Russian security official traveled to Pyongyang for the second time this month for another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Russian state media reported Tuesday, the latest display of the countries’ deepening ties amid President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Russia’s Tass news agency said Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu arrived in the North Korean capital on an unspecified “special” mission from Putin and was expected to meet with Kim. North Korean state media didn’t immediately confirm the visit.
Kim has supplied Russia with thousands of troops and large shipments of military equipment, including artillery and ballistic missiles, to support its military operation in Ukraine. Washington and Seoul have expressed concern that, in return, Kim may seek Russian technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by his nuclear-armed military.
In April, Pyongyang and Moscow officially confirmed North Korean troops’ deployment to Russia for the first time, saying that soldiers of the two countries were fighting alongside each other to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region. Putin then thanked North Korea’s participation in the war and promised not to forget their sacrifices.
In their previous meeting on June 4, Kim told Shoigu that his government would “unconditionally support” Russia over the war in Ukraine and other critical international issues as they discussed strengthening the strategic partnership between their countries, according to North Korean state media. Tass then reported that Shoigu and Kim also discussed prospects for rebuilding the Kursk region and outlined steps to commemorate the combat contributions of North Korean soldiers.
India warns citizens to leave Tehran as some flee Iran
NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday urged its citizens to leave Tehran, while some nationals have already fled across the Iranian border as the country comes under Israeli bombardment.
With Israel vowing to keep up its attacks four days after launching its assault on Iran, which has launched retaliatory strikes, New Delhi said Indian students have already left Tehran.
“Residents who are self sufficient in terms of transport have also been advised to move out of the city in view of the developing situation,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The warning came after Israel’s ally US President Donald Trump said “everyone” should “immediately” leave the Iranian capital, which is home to nearly 10 million.
New Delhi said “some Indians have been facilitated to leave Iran through the border with Armenia,” hundreds of kilometers (miles) northwest of Tehran.
The foreign ministry did not detail how many of its citizens have been affected in Iran, where there are around 10,000 Indians according to government data last year.
Thousands of Indians are also in Israel, and New Delhi has issued warnings for its citizens there to “stay vigilant.”
More than 600 foreign nationals have crossed from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan since the strikes began, a government official in Baku said.
“Since the start of the military escalation between Israel and Iran, more than 600 citizens of 17 countries have been evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan,” the government source told AFP on Tuesday.
“Evacuees are transported from the border to Baku International Airport and flown to their home countries on international flights.”
