If the United States stepped off the world stage, who would lead the world, US President Joe Biden asked his fellow countrymen as he slammed his November challenger for making such an argument. "Think of it this way -- if the United States stepped off the world stage, like Trump wants us to do, who would lead the world? Who would lead the world?" Biden asked the gathering at a campaign event in Tampa, Florida. Biden is facing his predecessor, Donald Trump, in the November presidential election, which is a rematch of the 2020 polls. "One of the things that is happening now is that ... every international meeting I attend with other heads of state -- whether it is the G7, the G20, all these international meetings -- before I leave, literally, almost every one will walk up to me and wait to get me in a corner alone and grab my arm and say, 'You have got to win'. Not because of me, but because of the alternative. And they say, 'Because my democracy depends upon it', meaning their democracy," Biden said. "So the whole world is looking, and they are looking to see how we handle ourselves in this election -- not just on whether we win or not, but how we handle ourselves. One of the things that for me, I got involved when I was a kid in electoral politics out of the Civil Rights Movement. It all got down to one person at a time organising," the president said. Biden told his supporters that his campaign is doing great and has raised nearly half a billion USD so far. "I am really excited. We have raised almost a half a billion dollars so far. But here is what excites me -- so far, we have 1.6 million (16 lakh) contributors, 550,000 more than we had last time at this stage of the game. But here is the deal -- of those 1.6 million contributors, 97 per cent contributed less than USD 200. Think of all the numbers that means," he said. The incumbent also said he is ahead of Trump in recent polls. "In the last 23 national polls, I have been ahead in 10 of them, Trump has been ahead in eight and we have been tied in five. More importantly, the momentum is clearly in our favour. For example, we moved eight points in the latest Marquette poll and seven points in the Echelon poll. And the Marist poll now has us up by three nationwide," he said. "The point I am making is, people are beginning to listen. This is a time people begin to focus and listen. They have generic impressions up to now, but now they are listening," he said. At the beginning of his remarks, Biden saw kids in the crowd and approached two elementary school-aged boys who were standing to his right. He lowered the microphone, got close and whispered to them. After that he looked around to his staff and said, "You know what to do, right?" Then he crossed the room over to two similarly-aged girls and whispered to them too. The president apparently whispered to the children about making sure that their parents get them ice cream. At the end of his remarks, he again told the kids to remember what he promised. Biden said Florida is in play nationally. "This election is a basic, old-fashioned election," he said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
24 April,2024 08:30 AM IST | Washington | PTINorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised salvo launches of the country’s “super-large” multiple rocket launchers that simulated a nuclear counterattack against enemy targets, state media said Tuesday, adding to tests and threats that have raised tensions in the region. The report by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency came a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the North firing what they suspected were multiple short-range ballistic missiles from a region near its capital, Pyongyang, toward its eastern seas. Analysts say North Korea’s large-sized artillery rockets blur the boundary between artillery systems and ballistic missiles as they can create their own thrust and are guided during delivery. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
24 April,2024 07:35 AM IST | Seoul | AgenciesOn Monday afternoon, the eve of the Passover holiday, Israel Air Force fighter jets attacked a terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon. Israeli forces also attacked buildings belonging to Hezbollah in al-Adisa and Arzoun in southern Lebanon. The attacks came after about 35 terrorist rocket launches were detected that crossed from the territory of Lebanon to the area of Ein Zeitim in northern Israel. There there were no casualties. ‘More sanctions on Iran’ Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz directed the management of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ representation to the European Union and the Israeli embassies in Europe to increase the campaign against Iran among the European Union countries in preparation for the Foreign Affairs Council meeting of the European Foreign Ministers to discuss the issue of sanctions on Iran. The main goal is to impose sanctions on Iran’s missile project, including the supply of missiles to all proxy terrorist entities associated with it in the Middle East. The campaign follows dozens of conversations that Minister Katz had with his counterparts in Europe to convince them to promote and support sanctions on Iran with a message: “Iranian aggression will not end with Israel and the Middle East... but will reach you as well, and we must take all measures to curb Iran now.” Israeli human rights abuse in Gaza is ‘troubling’: US The US State Department released its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and highlighted Israel, underscoring concerns over human rights abuses in Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the human rights concerns stating, “The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights.” He added that the US has condemned the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks while urging Israel to minimise civilian harm in its response. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
24 April,2024 07:33 AM IST | Tel Aviv | AgenciesThe owner and manager of the massive container ship that took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month should be held fully liable for the deadly collapse, according to court papers filed on behalf of Baltimore’s mayor and city council. The two companies filed a petition soon after the March 26 collapse asking a court to cap their liability under a pre-Civil War provision of an 1851 maritime law--a routine but important procedure for such cases. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who’s responsible and how much they owe in what could become one of the most expensive maritime disasters in history. Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd. owns the Dali, the vessel that veered off course and slammed into the bridge. Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., also based in Singapore, is the ship’s manager. In their filing, attorneys for the city accused them of negligence, arguing the companies should have realised the Dali was unfit for its voyage and manned the ship with a competent crew, among other issues. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
24 April,2024 07:30 AM IST | Baltimore | AgenciesThe UK Parliament has passed the contentious bill, allowing the government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for their claims to be considered by the East African nation, reported CNN. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's efforts to pass the bill had been stuck between opposition in the Houses of Parliament and challenges in the British courts, as lawmakers and activists have sought to scupper the legislation on human rights grounds. Moreover, Sunak's inability to implement the policy has caused considerable embarrassment, as the British government has sent millions of pounds to Rwanda to fund a scheme that has failed to deliver any results to date, CNN reported. It has been designed to prevent irregular migration into the UK, particularly people travelling on illegal and dangerous small boats from France, arranged by criminal gangs. Meanwhile, in theory, the legislation will see some landing in the UK sent to Rwanda where their asylum claim will be considered. If their claim is accepted, they will stay in Rwanda. If it is declined, the bill says they cannot be deported by Rwanda to anywhere other than the UK, though it is unclear what would ultimately happen in this scenario. The scheme was first conceived in 2022 when, Sunak, who became prime minister then, made it the mission of his government to put a stop to these arrivals by following through on a Conservative pledge to "stop the boats". Two years after the scheme was first conceived, the absence of any deportations so far has been considered a major failure for Sunak, CNN reported. Last year, the Supreme Court of the UK ruled that the policy is unlawful "because there are substantial grounds for believing that asylum seekers would face a real risk of ill-treatment by reason of refoulement to their country of origin if they were removed to Rwanda." Refoulement is the practice where asylum seekers or refugees are forcibly returned to a place where they would face persecution or danger, against important principles of international human rights law. The judges noted that as recently as 2021, the UK government criticized Rwanda for "extrajudicial killings, deaths in custody, enforced disappearances and torture." The government responded by introducing the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill in January of this year, which effectively enshrines in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country, overriding the judges' concerns. Home Secretary James Cleverly, in a video posted on X on Monday, said that "the Safety of Rwanda Bill has passed in Parliament and it will become law within days." He added that the act would "prevent people from abusing the law by using false human rights claims to block removals. And it makes clear that the UK Parliament is sovereign, giving the government the power to reject interim blocking measures imposed by European courts," reported CNN. However, even with the bill passed, the government might face legal challenges in the European Court of Human Rights, as the UK is still a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. The European court has previously barred it from sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. The bill has suffered long delays because of attempts to amend it. A process colloquially known as "ping pong," where the two parts of the UK's parliament - the House of Commons and the House of Lords - send legislation back and forth, has been going on for months. Every time the House of Lords makes amendments to the bill, the House of Commons, where Sunak has a majority, must vote to remove them, according to CNN. In 2022, the number of people arriving by small boats was 45,744, according to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. Moreover, net migration in the same year was 745,000, according to government figures. This is a problem for Sunak and his governing Conservative Party, as they are set to face the public in a general election that must be called before the end of this year. Parties on the right - most notably Reform UK, the new political home of arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage, will push the issue of illegal migration as hard as possible. Notably, the opposition Labour party has already promised to scrap the Rwanda plans if it comes to power at the next general election, which must be held by January next year but is widely expected to take place later this year, Al Jazeera reported. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 April,2024 07:17 AM IST | London | ANIAn earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter jolted Taiwan on Tuesday, according to National Centre for Seismology (NCS) data. The epicentre of the earthquake was located at Latitude 23.69 and Longitude 121.85, at a depth of 87 kilometres, the NCS stated. "Earthquake of Magnitude:6.1, Occurred on 23-04-2024, 00:02:55 IST, Lat: 23.69 & Long: 121.85, Depth: 87 Km, Region: Taiwan," the NCS said in a post shared on X. https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1782488681485607414 Moreover, on Monday, five earthquakes struck Shoufeng Township, Hualien County, in eastern Taiwan within just 9 minutes, as reported by Central News Agency Focus Taiwan. The seismic activity occurred between 5:08 pm and 5:17 pm (local time). Two weeks ago, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale rocked Taiwan's eastern shores, leaving four people dead and over 700 others injured. "Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.5 - 11 km NE of Hualien City, Taiwan," the US Geological Survey (USGS) said in a post on X. The quake that struck Hualien City on April 3 killed four people and injured more than 700 others, the National Fire Agency said while adding that of those injured, 132 are in Hualien County, near the epicentre of the quake. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 April,2024 07:15 AM IST | Taipei | ANIThe US State Department released its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and highlighted Israel, underscoring concerns over human rights abuses in Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the human rights concerns stating, "The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights." He added that the US has condemned the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks while urging Israel to minimize civilian harm in its response. The section on Israel, which runs 103 pages, documents "credible reports" of more than a dozen types of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, conflict-related sexual violence or punishment, and the punishment of family members for alleged offences by a relative. The resulting conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has had a "significant negative impact" on the human rights status in Israel, the report said. It further cited credible reports of "unlawful killings" by both Hamas and the Israeli government. Blinken said the United States would continue to make assessments about foreign nations' records on human rights, and potentially authorize consequences for countries that fall short, regardless of their status as an enemy or partner of the United States. Blinken in his remarks, explained that the US has "made clear" that Israel needs to follow international law "and take every feasible precaution to protect civilians." He emphasized that the department is still "urgently" raising concerns about civilian deaths in Gaza during the war. The US also "repeatedly" brought up concerns about humanitarian aid access in Gaza, civilian displacement and "unprecedented" journalist deaths, the report noted. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 April,2024 07:07 AM IST | Washington | ANIOne of China’s top military leaders took a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China on Monday that the country would strike back with force if its interests came under threat. The 19th biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium opened in the port city of Qingdao, where China’s northern naval force is based, providing a vivid backdrop to China’s massive military expansion over the past two decades that has seen it build or refurbish three aircraft carriers. The four-day meeting has drawn representatives from partners and competitors including Australia, Cambodia, Chile, France, India and the US and comes amid heightened tensions over China’s assertive actions in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China seas, and as China’s navy has grown into the world’s largest by number of hulls. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 April,2024 02:22 AM IST | Qingdao | AgenciesDeadly floods are wreaking havoc in many parts of East Africa that face torrential rainfall, with the poor nation of Burundi calling for international help to deal with the aftermath. Lake Tanganyika’s rising waters have invaded the port of Bujumbura, Burundi’s economic capital, disrupting business there and elsewhere in the country that relies heavily on donor support to run government programmes. “We are issuing this statement to ask our development partners to combine efforts with the state of Burundi to help all people affected by these disasters,” Interior Minister Martin Niteretse said April 17. “We need that support.” Niteretse spoke in Bujumbura alongside Violet Kenyana Kakyomya, the U.N. resident coordinator in Burundi. Between September and April 7, some 203,944 people were affected by flooding, with 19,250 homes and 209 classrooms destroyed. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 April,2024 02:20 AM IST | Bujumbura | AgenciesUK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Monday that the country’s first deportation flights to Rwanda could leave in 10-12 weeks as he promised to end the Parliamentary deadlock over a key policy promise before an election expected later this year. Sunak made the comments at a news conference, making his case directly to the public after vowing last week that Parliament would remain in session until the legislation is passed. The House of Commons will take up the bill later in the day, followed by consideration in the House of Lords. Sunak demanded that the unelected House of Lords to stop blocking legislation allowing authorities to deport some asylum-seekers to Rwanda, as he seeks to make good on a campaign promise to “stop the boats” that bring migrants to UK illegally. “Enough is enough,” Sunak said, as he told reporters that commercial charter planes are booked to carry the asylum seekers. He declined to provide details when asked how many people were expected to be on the flights in coming months. “We are ready. Plans are in place, and these flights will go come what may. No foreign court will stop us from getting flights off,” he said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 April,2024 02:18 AM IST | London | AgenciesThe head of Israeli military intelligence resigned on Monday over the failures surrounding Hamas’ unprecedented Oct. 7 attack, the military said, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel’s history. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva’s resignation could set the stage for more resignations among Israel’s top security brass over Hamas’ attack, when militants blasted through Israel’s border defences, rampaged through Israeli communities unchallenged for hours and killed 1,200 people, most civilians, while taking roughly 250 hostages into Gaza. That attack set off the war against Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month. “The intelligence directorate under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with. I carry that black day with me ever since, day after day, night after night. I will carry the horrible pain of the war with me forever,” Haliva wrote in his resignation letter, which was provided by the military. Haliva, as well as other military and security leaders, were widely expected to resign in response to the glaring failures that led up to Oct. 7 and the scale of its ferocity. 1,200No. of people killed in the Oct 7 massacre Palestinian baby born an orphan Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it. Their home was hit by an Israeli airstrike shortly before midnight Saturday. Until that moment, the family was like other Palestinians trying to shelter from the war in Gaza’s Rafah city. Sabreen’s father was killed. Her 4-year-old sister was killed. Her mother was killed. Emergency responders learned that her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was 30 weeks pregnant when they found her. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
23 April,2024 02:14 AM IST | Tel Aviv | AgenciesADVERTISEMENT
