‘Yes she can:’ Barack Obama says US ready for a Harris presidency

‘Yes she can:’ Barack Obama says US ready for a Harris presidency
Former US president Barack Obama told fellow Democrats that Kamala Harris would fight for Americans, and called her November poll rival Donald Trump ‘dangerous.’ (AFP)
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Updated 22 August 2024
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‘Yes she can:’ Barack Obama says US ready for a Harris presidency

‘Yes she can:’ Barack Obama says US ready for a Harris presidency

CHICAGO: Barack Obama told fellow Democrats in Chicago Tuesday that “the torch has been passed” to Kamala Harris and that the United States was ready for her to become president.

Former president Obama, who was greeted with rapturous applause and cheers at the packed arena hosting the party’s nominating convention, said Vice President Harris would fight for Americans, and called her November poll rival Donald Trump “dangerous.”

“Kamala Harris is ready for the job. This is a person who has spent her life fighting for people who need a voice,” he said.

Obama called Harris “someone who sees you and hears you and will get up every single day and fight for you.”

“Yes she can,” Obama said of Harris, prompting the boisterous crowd to repeatedly chant the phrase, recalling Obama’s own “Yes we can” campaign slogan.

Before his stardust performance, his wife and former US first lady Michelle Obama told convention goers “something magically wonderful is in the air.”

“It’s the contagious power of hope,” she said, calling Harris “my girl” and saying that hope — another rallying cry of her husband’s successful 2008 campaign — “is making a comeback.”

His turn amped up the already buoyant mood in Chicago where President Joe Biden delivered his own emotional speech late Monday less than a month after ending his reelection bid.

“In 2012 I got to vote for him, and everyone was pushing Michelle Obama to run for president, but now we have Kamala. So I just think that this is, in a sense, them passing on the torch,” said attendee Tomara Hall, 35, from California.

In deeply personal remarks shifting the focus onto Harris’s qualities, her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, told the convention “she is ready.”

“She brings both joy and toughness to this task,” he said to cheers.

“At this moment in our nation’s history, she is exactly the right president.”

With the party united and Harris polling strongly, Democrats are making clear they believe they can defeat Trump.

The Republican nominee had seemed set to regain power in November’s election until Biden upended the race by dropping out and endorsing his vice president.

Comparisons are already being made by Democratic faithful to Obama’s historic 2008 campaign, where a tidal wave of enthusiasm carried him to the White House.

Bullish delegates symbolically nominated Harris as their candidate in a boisterous roll call, following a paper exercise to confirm her as their standard bearer earlier this month.

“Thank you... see you in two days, Chicago,” she said to delegates via video link from her event in Milwaukee.

Harris, who was received rapturously in Chicago at her debut appearance before Biden spoke, was in Milwaukee Tuesday for an event at the basketball arena where Trump attended the Republican convention just a month ago.

The choice of the 18,000-seat arena will rile Trump, who has been rattled that 59-year-old Harris, unlike Biden, is able to draw the kinds of crowds the Republican has long attracted to his events.

Addressing both crowds simultaneously highlighted that she had filled the DNC and RNC venues.

Trying to pry media attention away from the Democratic convention, Trump is holding events all week and on Tuesday spoke about what he says is Harris’s “anti-police” stance.

At an event in Howell, Michigan, he attacked what he called “the Kamala crime wave.”

“You can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread — you get shot,” he said flanked by police officers and their cars, falsely claiming there has been a 43 percent increase in violent crime.

While allies have pleaded publicly for Trump to focus on policies and stop his barrage of personal insults against Harris, he has not stopped.

On Monday the DNC floor belonged to Biden, who delivered a swan song after being forced to abandon his reelection bid amid deep concerns that at 81 he is too old and frail to defeat Trump.

Biden has recast what might have been a humiliating moment into a narrative of sacrifice, passing on the torch to his younger protege.

“It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love the job, but I love my country more,” he said, wiping away a tear amid thunderous applause before embracing Harris on stage.

Obama called Biden an “outstanding president” who had “defended democracy at a moment of great danger.”

The other star speaker Monday was Hillary Clinton, who in 2016 was the first female presidential nominee of a major party, but lost to Trump in an election that opened up one of the most turbulent eras in recent US politics.

Harris, Clinton said, will be the one to break “the highest, hardest glass ceiling” in the country.

Twenty million people watched the DNC’s first night, ratings monitor Nielsen said, beating viewers for the opener of the Republican gathering that drew 18.1 million.


US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions

US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions
Updated 21 sec ago
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US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions

US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions
  • Experts say that this had put the B-2s in a position to operate in the Middle East

WASHINGTON: The US military is replacing its B-2 bombers with another type of bomber at a base in the Indo-Pacific that was seen as being in an ideal location to operate in the Middle East, US officials told Reuters on Monday. The Pentagon deployed as many as six B-2 bombers in March to a US-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, amid a US bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran.
Experts say that this had put the B-2s, which have stealth technology and are equipped to carry the heaviest US bombs and nuclear weapons, in a position to operate in the Middle East.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the B-2 bombers were being replaced by B-52 bombers.
The Pentagon said it did not comment on force posture adjustments as a matter of policy.
Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday, with further negotiations planned. The fourth round of talks took place ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to the Middle East. Trump, who has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails, has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since returning to the White House in January.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among what the officials have called “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks. Additionally, Trump announced last week that a deal had been reached to stop bombing Yemen’s Houthi group. The B-2 bombers had been used to carry out strikes against the Iran-backed group.


UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts

UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts
Updated 30 min 23 sec ago
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UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts

UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts
  • The proposed restructuring within the Secretariat includes merging units from the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) with the Department of Peace Operations (DPO)

UNITED NATIONS, United States: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Monday said reforming the global body will require “painful” changes, including staff reductions, to improve efficiency and deal with chronic budget constraints exacerbated by Trump administration policies.

In March, the secretary-general launched the UN80 initiative to streamline operations.

“Our shared goal has always been to make our organization more efficient, to simplify procedures, eliminate overlaps, and enhance transparency and accountability,” Guterres said Monday during an update to member states.

“The liquidity crisis we now face is not new. But today’s financial and political situation adds even greater urgency to our efforts.”

He warned “we know that some of these changes will be painful for our UN family.”

The proposed restructuring within the Secretariat includes merging units from the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) with the Department of Peace Operations (DPO).

“I believe we’ll be able to eliminate 20 percent of the posts of the two departments,” he said, adding that the level of reduction outlined for DPPA and DPO “must be seen as a reference for the wider UN80 exercise.”

Guterres also raised the possibility of relocating positions from New York and Geneva to less expensive cities.

Member states will have to decide on their own changes.

The internal workload has also stretched the capacity of the UN system “beyond reason,” Guterres said.

“It is as if we have allowed the formalism and quantity of reports and meetings to become ends in themselves. The measure of success is not the volume of reports we generate or the number of meetings we convene,” he said.

Guterres called on member states to make tough decisions.

“Many of you have agreed that this must be the moment to be bold and ambitious. That is what our Organization needs — and that is what our times demand,” he said.

“Make no mistake — uncomfortable and difficult decisions lie ahead. It may be easier — and even tempting — to ignore them or kick the can down the road. But that road is a dead end.”

In a memo seen recently by AFP, an internal working group in charge of the UN80 initiative suggested some major reforms, including merging UN agencies.

Guterres did not directly address those changes but indicated that “clusters” working on similar issues would propose reforms, and potentially some structural changes.


Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees

Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees
Updated 13 May 2025
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Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees

Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees
  • South Africa’s government says the US allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country

DULLES, Virginia: The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a group of 59 white South Africans as refugees, saying they face discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies.

The decision to admit the Afrikaners also has raised questions from refugee advocates about why they were admitted when the Trump administration has suspended efforts to resettle people fleeing war and persecution who have gone through years of vetting.

Many in the group from South Africa — including toddlers and other small children, even one walking barefoot in pajamas — held small American flags as two officials welcomed them to the United States in an airport hangar outside Washington. The South Africans were then leaving on other flights to various US destinations.

A group of 49 Afrikaners had been expected, but the State Department said Monday that 59 had arrived.

“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said.

President Donald Trump told reporters earlier Monday that he’s admitting them as refugees because of the “genocide that’s taking place.” He said that in post-apartheid South Africa, white farmers are “being killed” and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week.

That characterization has been strongly disputed by South Africa’s government, experts and even the Afrikaner group AfriForum, which says farm attacks are not being taken seriously by the government.

South Africa’s government says the US allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country. It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and most successful people in the country.

The view from South Africa

Speaking at a business conference in Ivory Coast, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday that he spoke with Trump recently and told him his administration had been fed false information by groups who were casting white people as victims because of efforts to right the historical wrongs of colonialism and South Africa’s previous apartheid system of forced racial segregation, which oppressed the Black majority.

“I had a conversation with President Trump on the phone and he asked me, ‘What’s going on down there?’ and I told him that what you are being told by those people who are opposed to transformation back in South Africa is not true,” Ramaphosa said.

Afrikaners make up South Africa’s largest white group and were the leaders of the apartheid government, which brutally enforced racial segregation for nearly 50 years before ending it in 1994. While South Africa has been largely successful in reconciling its many races, tensions between some Black political parties and some Afrikaner groups have remained.

The Trump administration has falsely claimed white South Africans are having their land taken away by the government under a new expropriation law that promotes “racially discriminatory property confiscation.” No land has been expropriated.

Trump has promoted the allegation that white farmers in South Africa are being killed on a large scale as far back as 2018 during his first term.

Conservative commentators have promoted the allegation about a genocide against white farmers, and South African-born Trump ally Elon Musk has posted on social media that some politicians in the country are “actively promoting white genocide.”

South Africa has extremely high levels of violent crime, and white farmers have been killed in rural Afrikaner communities. It has been a problem for decades. The government condemns those killings but says they are part of the country’s problems with crime.

“There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners in particular who are farmers,” South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Monday. “White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans who do get affected by crime. So this is not factual, it is without basis.”

Trump administration says white South Africans have been targeted

Landau said many of those who arrived Monday experienced “threatening invasions of their homes, their farms and a real lack of interest or success of the government in doing anything about this situation.”

They all had met stringent vetting standards, including the ability to assimilate into American culture, Landau said. Critics of the refugee program suggest that refugees aren’t properly vetted, though supporters say they go through some of the strictest vetting of anyone seeking to come to America.

Trump indefinitely suspended the refugee resettlement program — which historically had widespread bipartisan support — on his first day in office. A month later, he announced a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees.

Supporters of the refugee program question how the administration can justify admitting this small group while keeping out others from conflict zones around the world.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, called it an effort to “rewrite history.”

“The Administration must clarify why these individuals qualify for refugee status and resettlement in the US and why they have been prioritized over refugees like Afghans, Burmese Rohingya and Sudanese who have fled their homes due to conflict and persecution,” she said in a statement Monday.

Who can come from South Africa under Trump’s order

According to the US Embassy in South Africa, applicants have to be South African citizens who are of Afrikaner ethnicity or a member of a racial minority, and they have to be able to show a history of or a fear of persecution.

Afrikaners, who are the descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers, number around 2.7 million among South Africa’s population of 62 million, which is more than 80 percent Black.

The US refugee program was created by Congress in 1980, and groups have sued to restart it after Trump’s halt.

Traditionally, to qualify as a refugee, applicants must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Refugees are distinct from asylum-seekers because refugees must be outside of the US to qualify.

A network of resettlement agencies generally helps refugees settle in their new homes, and they get 90 days of federal assistance for things like rent. The Episcopal Church’s migration service, however, is refusing a directive from the federal government to help resettle the white South Africans, citing the church’s longstanding “commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.”


Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday

Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday
Updated 12 May 2025
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Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday

Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday
  • Defense ministers to discuss support for Ukraine
  • They will also discuss ways to strengthen European defense

ROME: Defense ministers from five major European military powers will meet in Italy on Friday to discuss support for Ukraine, the host country said.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto will host his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and Poland, his ministry said Monday in a statement.
The announcement came after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump said Monday he was “thinking” about flying to Turkiye for the talks but Russia did not indicate whether Putin would take part.
Aside from Ukraine, the European ministers will also discuss ways to strengthen European defense — a priority for them following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The five will hold a joint press conference at the end of their meeting at 1245 GMT on Friday, the Italian statement said.
Kyiv and its European allies called on Saturday for a 30-day ceasefire starting Monday — calling it a prerequisite for direct peace talks between the two countries.
Moscow rejected their call on Monday, despite threats of “massive sanctions” in case of refusal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his daily briefing that “the language of ultimatums is unacceptable to Russia.”
He later said that Moscow wanted “serious” negotiations to achieve peace in the conflict, which has left tens of thousands of people dead.


Police probe fire at UK PM Starmer’s former home

A person walks to a police officer at a cordoned off street, where a fire broke out at Keir Starmer’s home on Monday.
A person walks to a police officer at a cordoned off street, where a fire broke out at Keir Starmer’s home on Monday.
Updated 12 May 2025
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Police probe fire at UK PM Starmer’s former home

A person walks to a police officer at a cordoned off street, where a fire broke out at Keir Starmer’s home on Monday.
  • Starmer still owns the property in Kentish Town, north London, British media said, but he has since moved into the prime minister’s official residence in Downing Street

LONDON: Police in London on Monday said they had launched an investigation into a fire that caused damage outside the former family home of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer still owns the property in Kentish Town, north London, British media said, but he moved into the prime minister’s official residence in Downing Street after his Labour party’s election victory last year.
At 1:35 am (0035 GMT) on Monday “police were alerted by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a fire at a residential address,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“Officers attended the scene. Damage was caused to the property’s entrance, nobody was hurt. The fire is being investigated and cordons remain in place while enquiries continue.”
London Fire Brigade described the incident as “a small fire outside a property in Kentish Town.” “The brigade was called at 01:11 and the fire was under control by 01:33,” it added.
Starmer’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work and it is subject to a live investigation. So, I can’t comment further.”