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☆ US VP Harris embraces new attack role, draws fresh Republican fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Jarrett Renshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli President Isaac Herzog (not pictured) in her ceremonial offices at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2023. Biden credits Black voters for his 2020 victory, with exit polls showing he carried 87% of the vote. His campaign accused another Black Republican who criticized the changes, which include teaching that slavery had possible benefits to the enslaved, of being a Harris supporter. Voters wary of the president’s advanced age of 80 are expected to take a much harder look at the vice president. “We are running against Kamala Harris.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Isaac Herzog, Nathan Howard, Harris, Joe Biden’s, reacquaint Harris, burnish, ’, Biden, Al Sharpton, it’s, DeSantis, Tim Scott, Kamala Harris that’s, Joe Biden, ”, Nikki Hailey, Roe, Wade, Bruce Thompson Organizations: BOSTON, Florida Governor, ”, Eisenhower, REUTERS, Black, National Action Network, Reuters, NBC, Republican, Black Republican, Biden, Fox News, mojo, Democratic National Committee Locations: Iowa, Chicago, Washington , U.S, Boston, United States, –, North Carolina

☆ Kamala Harris embraces new attack role, draws fresh Republican fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Jarrett Renshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The high-profile speeches are part of an expanded role for U.S. President Joe Biden's much-scrutinized governing partner ahead of the election, senior Democrats say. Biden credits Black voters for his 2020 victory, with exit polls showing he carried 87% of the vote. Senator Tim Scott, the most high-profile Black candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential race, of accepting Harris's "lie" about Florida's new slavery curriculum requirements. His campaign accused another Black Republican who criticized the changes, which include teaching that slavery had possible benefits to the enslaved, of being a Harris supporter. Voters wary of the president's advanced age of 80 are expected to take a much harder look at the vice president.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Harris, Joe Biden's, reacquaint Harris, burnish, Biden, Al Sharpton, it's, DeSantis, Tim Scott, Kamala Harris that's, Joe Biden, Nikki Hailey, Roe, Wade, ”, Bruce Thompson, Jarrett Renshaw, Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell Organizations: BOSTON, Florida Governor, Republicans, Black, National Action Network, Reuters, NBC, Republican, Black Republican, Biden, Fox News, mojo, Democratic National Committee, Thomson Locations: Iowa, Chicago, Boston, United States, –, North Carolina

☆ Mexican president's fiery barbs fuel maverick rival's campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Dave Graham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Neither the president's office nor Galvez, who represents the center-right National Action Party (PAN), replied to requests for comment. Lopez Obrador has sought to break this narrative by branding Galvez a millionaire, said Roy Campos, Mitofsky's director. The authority this week ordered Lopez Obrador to remain neutral and abstain from election comments. Under Fox's government, Congress in 2005 stripped Lopez Obrador of immunity from prosecution over a minor land dispute. She urged her party to avoid resorting to tactics used against Lopez Obrador in the past.

Persons: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's, Xochitl Galvez, Lopez Obrador, Galvez, Alfa Gonzalez, pugnacious Lopez Obrador, Lopez, Consulta Mitofsky, Claudia Sheinbaum, Marcelo Ebrard, Roy Campos, Gabriel Islas, Beatriz Vazquez, Vicente Fox, Fox, Andres Manuel, Lorena Villavicencio, Sheinbaum, Dave Graham, Susan Heavey Organizations: Isla de, REUTERS, MEXICO CITY, Party of, Democratic Revolution, Action Party, PAN, Regeneration, Mexico City, Institutional Revolutionary Party, Congress, Thomson Locations: Isla, Isla de Cedros, Mulege, Mexico, MEXICO, derailing, MORENA, Spanish, Mexican

☆ Opinion: ‘Dear Canada…’ an American firefighter’s heartfelt letter to north of the border
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Opinion Clare Frank | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This means agencies creating the wildland-urban interface or WUI — where human settlements meet the natural environment — are not ultimately responsible for protecting it. By my fifth year in firefighting, I’d seen plenty of wildfires and structure fires, and wildfires threatening structures. As we convoyed in, a battalion chief instructed each engine company, “If it’s not savable, leapfrog to the next house. Smoke rises from the Texas Creek wildfire south of Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada, on July 9. In this banner year, some are crying for Canada to form a national fire department.

Persons: Clare Frank, Read, Cynthia Smalley, nature’s, partiers, leapfrog, Luis Ascui, they’d, ember, Smokey Bear, “, it’s, Canada’s Organizations: CNN, CNN —, Del, Getty, Australia, Service, Reuters, Twitter, Facebook Locations: California’s, United States, Pebble Beach , California, Del Monte Forest, Kinglake, Victoria, Australia, Canada, Texas, Lillooet, British Columbia, California, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France

☆ Maverick Mexican politician Xochitl Galvez throws hat in ring for presidency
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, June 27 (Reuters) - Maverick Mexican politician Senator Xochitl Galvez on Tuesday said she was entering the race for the presidency in 2024 as a struggling opposition tries to claw back the initiative from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's ruling party. Galvez, 60, made her announcement in a video posted on Twitter standing outside Lopez Obrador's office in Mexico City, injecting a dash of unpredictability to a burgeoning field of hopefuls for the election next June. Galvez contrasts her humble origins to those of the contenders of Lopez Obrador's leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), whom she says grew up with more privilege. Galvez, a trained computer engineer elected to the Senate for the center-right National Action Party, could help counter the appeal of a female MORENA candidate, analysts say. Earlier this month, she created a media stir as she stood knocking on the doors of the presidential palace in protest at being denied entry to Lopez Obrador's morning press conference, where she was planning to criticize him.

Persons: Xochitl Galvez, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's, Galvez, Lopez, Lopez Obrador, MORENA, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, Dave Graham, Leslie Adler Organizations: MEXICO CITY, Maverick, Twitter, Regeneration, Mexico City Mayor, Senate, Action Party, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Maverick Mexican, Mexico City, Mexico

☆ UN chief backs idea of global AI watchdog like nuclear agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UNITED NATIONS, June 12 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday backed a proposal by some artificial intelligence executives for the creation of an international AI watchdog body like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "Alarm bells over the latest form of artificial intelligence – generative AI – are deafening. But on Monday he added: "I would be favorable to the idea that we could have an artificial intelligence agency ... inspired by what the international agency of atomic energy is today." British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also supported the idea and said he wants Britain to be home to global AI safety regulation. He said he plans to appoint in the coming days a scientific advisory board of AI experts and chief scientists from U.N. agencies.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, ChatGPT, Guterres, OpenAI, Rishi Sunak, Michelle Nichols, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, United Nations, British, Thomson Locations: Vienna, Britain

Environment Programme (UNEP), which is hosting the talks, released a blueprint for reducing plastic waste by 80% by 2040. The report, issued earlier this month, outlined three key areas of action: reuse, recycling and reorientation of plastic packaging to alternative materials. This week, dozens of countries were listing public health as one of their priority concerns in limiting plastics production and waste. The UNEP report also identified 13,000 chemicals associated with plastic production, more than 3,000 of which were considered hazardous. Greenpeace, meanwhile, issued a report collecting findings from scientific research papers that suggest plastic recycling processes can release many of these chemicals including benzene into the environment.

☆ Haiti's deadly vigilante movement sees decline in gang violence, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The situation in the Caribbean country remains extremely volatile as heavily armed gangs continue to drive a humanitarian crisis that has displaced tens of thousands amid frequent kidnappings for ransom, gang rapes, tortures and murders. The vigilante movement, known as "Bwa Kale", began after residents of the capital Port-au-Prince lynched and set fire to over a dozen suspected gang members in the early morning of April 24. "Without making a value judgment, the 'Bwa Kale' movement has in just one month produced convincing, visible results; fear has changed sides," CARDH said in the report. Port-au-Prince, which CARDH estimates is now 60% controlled by armed gangs, sits in Haiti's Ouest Department where most of vigilante killings that it recorded - including lynchings, stonings, beatings and burnings - took place. Bwa Kale, CARDH said, likely emerged from the extreme cruelty inflicted by gangs, the ineffectiveness of the government, police and army and lack of international action.

☆ The College Board’s Secret Apology
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Hundreds participate in the National Action Network demonstration in response to Gov. Ron DeSantis's rejection of a high school African American history course, Tallahassee, Feb. 15. Photo: Alicia Devine/Associated PressGov. “I have patiently and quietly watched the ubiquitous interviews and media assertions that AP would not make changes at the behest of any group beyond professors, teachers, and students,” wrote Nishani Frazier , a University of Kansas professor who sits on the AP course’s development committee. “If this is so, which student, professor, or teacher suggested adding black conservatives to the course over Combahee River Collective?”

☆ Russia-Ukraine War News: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Anushka Patil | Juston Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

“We are nine hours apart and over 10,000 kilometers apart,” Mr. Zelensky told Mexico’s lower house of congress — the Chamber of Deputies — in a virtual address shortly before 1 p.m. there. But speaking to Mexican lawmakers, Mr. Zelensky did not ask for military hardware or money. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico has said little publicly since he condemned the war days after it started in February 2022. Mr. López Obrador, who leads the left-wing Morena Party, did not show up in the chamber where Mr. Zelensky spoke over a video link. “We recognize in you the struggle that you have been waging all this time in defense of your homeland and the dignity of your people,” he said, addressing Mr. Zelensky.

☆ U.S., European Police Shut Down Hacker Marketplace, Make 119 Arrests
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Kim S. Nash | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The international action conducted Tuesday and Wednesday against Genesis Market, one of the largest so-called initial access brokers in the world, resulted in 119 arrests. The dismantling of Genesis Market follows the arrest last month of a man U.S. prosecutors say ran BreachForums, a site for buying and selling stolen data. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Cybersecurity news, analysis and insights from WSJ's global team of reporters and editors. The Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned Genesis Market, a so-called initial access broker in operation since 2018. Genesis Market data was provided to the website Have I Been Pwned, so individuals can check whether their credentials have been compromised.

☆ China's growing influence threatens to undermine global human rights, new research finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Campaigners stand opposite the Chinese embassy in London to protest human rights violations by the Chinese government against its Uyghur community. Mark Kerrison | In Pictures | Getty ImagesChina's growing global influence poses a serious threat to international human rights, according to a new report, which suggests that the United Nations Human Rights Council — the body established to safeguard such international protections — is failing to counter the risks. Beijing's increasingly active role in the international human rights system comes at a precarious period of global democratic deterioration. Sofia Nazalya senior human rights analyst at Verisk MaplecroftThe research, part of the firm's wider annual Human Rights Outlook, is based on quantitative data from sources including the U.N., the U.S. State Department and Human Rights Watch, as well as Verisk Maplecroft's internal qualitative analysis. More than half of members also ranked similarly poorly across the three other metrics the research deemed essential for upholding humanitarian protections: labor rights, human security and human development.

☆ In pictures: Protests take place across France after Macron forces through pension changes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A man in Lille, northern France, stands next to a placard reading "No!" Strikes and protests around France on Thursday disrupted travel and filled the streets as citizens demonstrated against changes to the pension system. His bill will see the retirement age for most workers rise from 62 to 64 and the number of years a worker must pay into the system to receive a full pension rise from 42 to 43 in 2027. On Thursday, unions accused Macron of making "provocative" comments after he said they had failed to engage in negotiations over changes to the pension system and compared the protests to the raiding of the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Meanwhile, electricity output was cut, refinery blockages continued and the civil aviation authority said flight services would be reduced into the weekend.

☆ House Republicans are rallying to Trump's defense, but they're unlikely to be able to stop a possible indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

House Republicans are demanding documents and testimony from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. It's the latest major step the GOP-led House has taken to defend Trump as he faces a possible criminal indictment. And without the backing of the Justice Department, it's unclear what consequences, if any, Congress can impose on Bragg's office. Yet while the lawmakers may have made valid criticisms, former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb said, the letter is "bad form." Monday's letter also comes after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledged to subject Bragg's office to congressional investigations in anticipation of a possible Trump indictment.

☆ Manhattan D.A. says attempts to intimidate office won’t be tolerated after Trump’s call for protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Dennis Romero | Jesse Rodriguez | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Please know that your safety is our top priority," Bragg said in a memo to office staff obtained by NBC News from a senior official at the Manhattan DA's office. He added, "We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York." PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!" NBC News reported Friday that law enforcement agencies are prepping for a possible Trump indictment as early as next week. Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court in 2018 to a federal charge related to making the payment to Daniels.

☆ Photos of Tyre Nichols' funeral at Mississippi Boulevard Church in Memphis show a community jolted into activism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Tyre Nichols' funeral was held Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. A man arranges flowers around Tyre Nichols' casket at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP, PoolThe funeral of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Memphian who was brutally beaten by five police officers on January 7, was held Wednesday at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. Nichols, who has a 4-year-old son, has been remembered by his family and friends as a lover of sunsets, photography, and skateboarding. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, on Tuesday, accepting her invitation to the funeral.

☆ On King’s holiday, daughter calls for bold action over words
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Bernice King, who leads The King Center in Atlanta, said leaders — especially politicians — too often cheapen her father’s legacy into a “comfortable and convenient King” offering easy platitudes. The service, organized by the center and held at Ebenezer annually, headlined observances of the 38th federal King holiday. ... A prophetic word calls for an inconvenience because it challenges us to change our hearts, our minds and our behavior,” Bernice King said. At Ebenezer, Warnock, who has led the congregation for 17 years, hailed his predecessor’s role in securing ballot access for Black Americans. But, like Bernice King, the senator warned against a reductive understanding of King.

☆ At MLK event, Biden courts Black vote and bashes Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In his remarks, Biden said he has delivered for Black Americans in many areas in his two years in office and said he wants to get more support in Congress for stalled voting rights legislation. Black voters were a key part of the base of support that lifted Biden to victory in 2020 after pledging to do more to defend voting rights and address other racial justice issues. REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson 1 2Since taking control of the House, Republicans have gone on the attack against Biden. Renewing his appeal for raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, Biden said Republicans' bid to cut taxes for the wealthy showed that "these guys are fiscally demented. Some House Republicans have floated ideas to slash funding for the Internal Revenue Service and replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax.

☆ Biden calls for police officers to be retrained: 'Why should you always shoot with deadly force?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Biden said police should be retrained on why they shouldn't always shoot with deadly force. He said officers don't need to use deadly force even when they need to use their weapons. Biden pushed for police reform after the death of George Floyd. Biden addressed a civil rights group in Washington, DC, on Monday, where he criticized Republicans for not passing a Democratic policing reform bill. "We have to retrain cops as to why shouldn't you always shoot with deadly force.

☆ Biden Honors Martin Luther King Jr. Declaring a ‘Time for Choosing’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Sabrina Siddiqui | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Al Sharpton and President Biden at the National Action Network’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast in Washington on Monday. WASHINGTON—President Biden declared the nation at “a time for choosing” in a Monday speech marking the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr . holiday and paying tribute to the civil rights icon’s legacy. “This is a time for choosing,” Mr. Biden said at an annual breakfast in Washington hosted by the National Action Network and the Rev. Al Sharpton on what would have been Dr. King’s 94th birthday. “Will we choose democracy over autocracy, community over chaos, love over hate?

President Joe Biden lambasted House Republicans’ tax agenda on Monday, targeting the new majority’s push to revoke new Internal Revenue Service funding, abolish the federal tax agency and replace the income tax with a federal tax on consumption. Speaking at the National Action Network’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast in Washington, D.C., Biden referred to Republicans as "fiscally demented" and pledged to veto their tax legislation, which is all but certain to fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate. President Joe Biden speaks at the National Action Network's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day breakfast, in Washington, DC., on Monday. They didn’t say if elected their plan was to make inflation worse.”The other tax bill in Biden’s crosshairs was introduced last week by Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and would abolish the IRS, eliminate income taxes and institute a federal consumption tax.

☆ Biden flubbed the name of Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter-in-law while singing 'Happy Birthday' to her onstage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden sang "Happy Birthday" to Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter-in-law on Monday. Arndrea Waters King was attending the National Action Network's Annual MLK breakfast alongside her husband, Martin Luther King III, on Monday. "It's an honor to spend King holiday with the National Action Network and with the King family," Biden said. When it's somebody's birthday, you sing 'Happy Birthday.' Arndrea Waters King speaks before the start of a Peace Walk to urge Democrats to pass a law protecting voting rights, during Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2022.

☆ Biden: Americans should ‘pay attention’ to MLK’s legacy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

But with the election behind him and a full six-year term ahead, Warnock fully embraced Biden at the service. “That, my friends, is God’s work,” said Warnock, adding that Biden “had a little something to do with it.”As Biden begins to turn his attention toward an expected 2024 reelection effort, Georgia is going to get plenty of his attention. “But at this inflection point, we know a lot of work that has to continue on economic justice civil rights, voting rights, protecting our democracy. … Are we a people who will choose democracy over autocracy? "I’ve spoken before parliaments, kings, queens, leaders of the world ... but this is intimidating,” Biden said in opening his sermon.

☆ In tribute to rights leader King, Biden invokes 'battle for the soul of this nation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Marking Monday's national holiday celebrating King, Biden delivered a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church at the invitation of its pastor, Democratic U.S. King worked for voting rights, Biden said, but "we do well to remember that his mission was even deeper. King was pastor of Ebenezer church from 1960 until his death. "The battle for the soul of this nation is perennial," Biden said in his tribute to King. Many presidents, including Biden, have visited Ebenezer to honor King, usually during events around the time of his birthday.

☆ President Biden to give sermon at Martin Luther King's church in Atlanta
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WILMINGTON, Del., Jan 15 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will become the first sitting American president to speak at a Sunday service at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church in Atlanta as he seeks to bolster support among African Americans ahead of an expected run for re-election in 2024. Marking the national holiday celebrating the slain civil rights leader, Biden will deliver a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church at the invitation of its pastor, Democratic U.S. King was pastor of Ebenezer church from 1960 until his death. Many presidents, including Biden, have visited Ebenezer to honor King, usually during events around the time of his birthday. The Atlanta visit comes as Biden girds for what is expected to be an announcement of his re-election bid in the weeks ahead.

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