Foreign

2024 DNC CONVENTION: FOUR Takeaways By Kamala Harris For America, Foreign Policy And Trump

Published

4 weeks ago

August 24, 2024

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UNITED States Vice-President, Kamala Harris delivered a powerful speech in her acceptance speech of her nomination as the Presidential Candidate of the Democratic Party.

She described her strong rival in the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump In many ways,

“Trump is an unserious man, But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”

We know what a second Trump term would look like. It’s all laid out in Project 2025, written by his closest advisors. And its sum total is to pull our country back to the past. But America: We are not going back.

The middle class is where I come from. My mother taught us that opportunity is not available to everyone.
That’s why we will create what I call an opportunity economy, where everyone has the chance to compete and succeed.”

Here are four takeaways from her convention-closing remarks.

1. Harris promoted her middle class roots

Many Americans know who Ms Harris is, but not many know what she believes in or details of her background. First and foremost, her convention speech set out to change that.

She recounted her mother’s journey as an immigrant from India. She spoke about how her parents met – and how they ultimately divorced. She talked about her childhood upbringing in a working-class neighbourhood in Oakland, California.

“The middle class is where I come from,” she said. “My mother kept a strict budget. We lived within our means. Yet, we wanted for little. And she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us.”

Ms Harris also spoke of why she chose to become a lawyer – and a prosecutor. She drew a line from her early days in the courtroom to her public services as a politician.

“My entire career, I have only had one client,” she said. “The people.”

2. A vision for the future – with few details

Ms Harris’s speech included calls for unity and a pathway beyond the “bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles” of modern American politics.

She said that the US had a “precious, fleeting” opportunity to “chart a new path forward”. But that chart had few details.

Vague calls for unity and a path beyond partisanship are rhetoric many presidential hopefuls have used in the past.

When Ms Harris did turn to policy details, she spoke in generalities.

She said she will be focused on lowering the costs of “everyday needs” – including healthcare, housing and groceries. She specifically called out abortion rights – and framed it as a means of preserving freedom, which has been a recurring theme at this Democratic convention.

“America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives, especially about matters of heart and home,” she said.

Ms Harris, in her speech, styled herself as a centre-left moderate, putting little daylight between her policies and those of her boss, the man she hopes to replace, Joe Biden.

“Everywhere I go, in everyone I meet, I see a nation ready to move forward,” she said. “Ready for the next step, in the incredible journey that is America.”

The exact details of that step, however, are to be determined.

3. An unchanged Gaza war message

As pro-Palestinian protesters marched outside the convention, Ms Harris devoted particular attention in the foreign-policy section of her speech to the Gaza war.

Here, yet again, there was little difference between her rhetoric and views and those of Mr Biden – and she linked herself to the president several times.

“President Biden and I are working around the clock,” she said, “because now is the time to get a hostage deal and ceasefire done.”

She also pledged to ensure that Israel always has the ability to defend itself and took particular note of the brutality of the 7 October Hamas attack.

For a moment, it sounded like some in the crowd would jeer, but Ms Harris quickly moved on to the plight of Palestinians, saying that the scale of their suffering was “heartbreaking”.

That will hardly be enough to satisfy the protesters outside, however, and they could return to their homes – some in key battleground states like Michigan – convinced that a Harris presidency would be a continuation of the Biden Gaza War policies.

4. Trump is an ‘unserious man’ but serious threat

Two days ago, Michelle and Barack Obama formed a tag-team that belittled former president Donald Trump for what they characterised as his small obsessions and petty personality.

Ms Harris also took swipes at her Republican opponent, but they were pretty standard fare for Democrats – including Mr Biden – over the past few months.

“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,” she said. “But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”

She brought up the 6 January attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters, and mentioned his criminal convictions.

She also hit what has become a favourite Democratic punching bag, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint for a Republican presidency. Although the former president has disavowed the plan, she noted that it was written by his advisers and it sought to “pull our country back into the past”.

The future vs the past contrast has been a central theme of the Harris campaign so far, as it was in her nomination acceptance speech.

It’s one of the ways the vice-president has been able to draw a distinction not only from her current Republican opponent, but from the unpopular aspects of her boss, Joe Biden, who just a few weeks ago was the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Foreign

Kamala Harris reacts to Trump’s assassination attempt; Says, ‘I am glad he is safe’

Published

2 days ago

September 17, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Following the second assassination attempt of Former President Donald Trump in the Florida golf course ahead of the US Presidential elections, US Vice President Kamala Harris stated,‘ I am glad he is safe’. The shooting took place at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. After the news broke out, Kamala Harris shared a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and said there is no place for violence in America.

“I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

I have been briefed on reports of gunshots fired near former President Trump and his property in Florida, and I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) September 15, 2024

According to the White House, both the Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden have been informed about the security incident of the Former President when he was golfing on Sunday and are both “relieved to know” that Donald Trump is safe, reported CNN.

“The President and Vice President have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was golfing. They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team,” stated the White House.

Meanwhile, the suspect involved in Sunday’s shooting incident at Trump’s Florida Golf Course has been taken into custody, CNN reported, citing a Facebook post from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

Meanwhile, a suspect, who, according to the officials, is connected to Sunday’s shooting incident at Trump’s Florida Golf Course, has been taken into custody, CNN reported, citing a Facebook post from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

The sheriff’s office “has stopped a vehicle and taken a suspect into custody,” the post said. According to the office, a portion of Interstate 95 close to State Route 714 in Martin County is closed. Trump is “safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” the Trump Campaign said in a statement on Sunday, CNN reported.

Foreign

Suspect in Trump assassination attempt charged with gun crimes

Published

2 days ago

September 17, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

A man suspected of plotting to assassinate former US president Donald Trump was charged with federal gun crimes on Monday.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number at his initial court appearance.

Routh, who was arrested on Sunday after an alleged abortive bid to shoot the former president at his West Palm Beach golf course, is expected to face further charges at a later arraignment.

Routh appeared calm during the brief court hearing, answering “yes” in a soft voice to several questions from District Judge Ryon McCabe of the Southern District of Florida.

Routh was arrested on Sunday after a US Secret Service agent noticed the barrel of a rifle pointing out of shrubbery at the Trump International Golf Course.

Agents, who were deployed in a moving security bubble extending about one or two holes ahead of the former president, “engaged” an individual, the US Secret Service’s Rafael Barros said.

Support for Trump, questions for Harris in pro-fracking Pennsylvania
Trump was unharmed.

Police said Routh fled in a vehicle and was arrested shortly after.

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said police recovered a “AK-47-style” rifle equipped with a scope, two backpacks, and a GoPro camera from the scene.

Routh is reported to be a self-employed affordable housing builder based in Hawaii, with an arrest record spanning decades.

He regularly posted about politics and current events on social media, including criticism of Trump, according to US media.

AFP

Foreign

Zimbabwe approves mass slaughter of elephants to feed hungry citizens

Published

2 days ago

September 17, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Zimbabwe has authorized a mass slaughter of elephants to feed citizens left hungry by its worst drought in decades.

With nearly half of the country’s population facing the risk of acute hunger, “we are targeting to cull 200 elephants,” Tinashe Farawo, a spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority, told CNN on Monday.

The move follows a decision in Namibia to cull elephants and other wild animals to relieve food insecurity fueled by a prolonged drought. The culls have drawn criticism from animal rights activists and conservationists.

Zimbabwe is home to more than 84,000 elephants, Farawo said, around double its “capacity of 45,000,” he added.

2019/11/29: African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Huanib River Valley in northern Damaraland and Kaokoland, Namibia.

Zimbabwe’s elephant population is the second-largest in the world, exceeded only by Botswana’s.

Environment Minister Sithembiso Nyoni told parliamentarians last week that “Zimbabwe has more elephants than we need and more elephants than our forests can accommodate.”

She added that overpopulation by elephants “causes lack of resources” for their sustenance, which fuels human-wildlife conflict in the country.

“We are discussing with Zim Parks (Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority) and some communities to do like what Namibia has done so that we can count the elephants, mobilize the women to maybe dry the meat and package it to ensure that it gets to some communities that need the protein,” Nyoni said.

“When there is an overpopulation of wildlife in a specific park, they will then seek to go outside the park to look for other resources such as water or greenery. When that happens, they will then come into contact with the humans and conflicts begin.”

In Namibia, 700 wild animals, including elephants, were approved for slaughter last month and for their meat to be distributed to people facing food insecurity.

More than 150 animals have already been killed, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism said, with more than 125,000 pounds of meat shared out.

Zimbabwe and Namibia are just two of the many countries across southern Africa suffering a severe drought caused by El Niño — a natural climate pattern that has resulted in very little rainfall in the region since the start of the year. The countries are also vulnerable to droughts worsened by climate change.

Farawo, the parks spokesperson, told CNN that the culling will begin once the authority completes the necessary paperwork.

“We are doing the paperwork … so that we can start as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the planned slaughter would target areas with a large elephant population.

The proposed elephant culls in Zimbabwe and Namibia have been strongly criticized.

“Culling of elephants must be stopped,” Farai Maguwu, who leads the Zimbabwe-based advocacy group the Center for Natural Resource Governance, said in a post on X.

“Elephants have a right to exist,” he wrote, adding that “future generations have a right to see elephants in their natural habitat.”

Conservation biologist and natural resources consultant Keith Lindsay also expressed his discomfort at using wildlife to alleviate food insecurity, telling CNN that it is “very likely to lead to a more regular, ongoing demand for bushmeat that would be unsustainable.”

Farawo, however, said Zimbabwe’s decision to slaughter elephants — its first cull since 1988 — was part of wider measures to reduce conflict between elephants and humans, following a series of elephant attacks on humans.

“The animals are causing a lot of havoc in communities, killing people. Last week, we lost a woman in the northern part of the country who was killed by an elephant. The previous week, the same thing happened. So it (the culling) is also a way of controlling,” he said.

At least 31 people have died in Zimbabwe this year as a result of conflict between humans and wildlife, local media reported.

Credit/CNN