Author: afp

More than 500 arrested in Bangladesh capital over violence: police

More than 500 people, including some opposition leaders, have been arrested over days of clashes in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka sparked by protests against job quotas, police said Monday.

“At least 532 people have been arrested over the violence,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP.

“They include some BNP leaders,” he added, referring to the opposition Bangladesh National Party.

The detainees included the BNP’s third-most senior leader Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and its spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, he said.

A former national football captain turned senior BNP figure, Aminul Huq, was also held, he added.

Mia Golam Parwar, the general secretary of the country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, was also arrested, Hossain said.

He said at least three policemen had been killed during the unrest in the capital and about 1,000 injured, at least 60 of them critically.

BNP spokesman A.K.M Wahiduzzaman told AFP that nationwide, “several hundred BNP leaders and activists were arrested in the past few days”.

sa/slb/sco

© Agence France-Presse

July 22, 2024
Joe Biden quits the US presidential race, endorses Kamala Harris

Joe Biden on Sunday dropped out of the US presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s new nominee, in a move that upends the 2024 race for the White House.

The 81-year-old Biden stepped aside after weeks of pressure from Democrats following a disastrous debate performance, throwing the election battle against Republican Donald Trump into unprecedented turmoil.

“While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a letter on X while recovering from Covid at his beach house in Delaware.

Biden said he would “speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision”. He later added that he was backing Harris, who is the first female, Black and South Asian vice president in US history, and will now be aiming to become its first female commander-in-chief.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden said on X. “Democrats – it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.” Biden is the first president in US history to pull out so late in an election race, and the first to bow out because of concerns over his mental acuity and health.

Biden spent more than three weeks resisting calls to step down following the shock of the June 27 debate, at one point insisting that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to back out.

In a bid to show he was up to the job, he gave a number of interviews and what was billed as a “big boy” press conference in which he took numerous questions, but made further gaffes including calling Harris “Vice President Trump”. A tide of voices within his own party calling on him to go, starting with donor and actor George Clooney and ending with former president Barack Obama, sealed his fate.

Chaotic period for US

The end finally came shortly after Biden had been diagnosed with Covid, forcing him off the campaign trail and into isolation in Rehoboth Beach.

Biden’s decision to pull out also caps a tense and chaotic period in the US election, with Trump having survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally on July 13.

Biden joins a small club of US presidents who have decided to throw in the towel after just one term, with the last being Lyndon Johnson in 1968 — a year also marked by political turmoil and violence.

Johnson’s replacement as nominee, then-vice president Hubert Humphrey, went on to lose heavily to Richard Nixon. But Democrats are counting on Harris to fare better, and hoping that she can prevent convicted felon Trump from making a sensational comeback to the Oval Office.

In recent weeks, the Biden campaign has reportedly been quietly carrying out a head-to-head survey of voters measuring how she matched up against Trump.

While Harris struggled to make an impact in her first years in the White House, she has emerged in the last year as a strong performer on the campaign trail on key messages such as abortion rights. She has also made much of her life story as the first woman in US history to hold the vice presidency, as well as the first person of Black and South Asian origin.

Barring opposition from her party, Harris is now set to be nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19 in what promises to be a dramatic moment — and a heartrending one for Biden.

Biden took office in January 2021 pledging to heal the “soul of America” after four turbulent years under Trump and the shock of the January 6, 2021 Capitol assault by his supporters.

Overcoming a reputation for verbal flubs, Obama’s former vice president pushed through a massive Covid recovery plan and a green industry scheme.

US allies welcomed his pledge that “America is back” following Trump’s trampling on international alliances, and his strong support for Ukraine as it battled Russia’s 2022 invasion. But he faced criticism over the catastrophic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and inflation that meant overstretched Americans ignored otherwise positive economic numbers.

Behind it all were the ongoing concerns about his age with a series of senior moments, including tripping up the stairs to Air Force One and falling off his bike, contributing to the doddery image played up by Republicans.

Biden’s Letter

July 22, 2024
Pro-Palestinian Bella Hadid dropped from another ad campaign

Adidas said Friday it had dropped vocal pro-Palestinian model Bella Hadid from an advertising campaign for retro sneakers referencing the 1972 Munich Olympics, which were overshadowed by a massacre of Israeli athletes.

The German sportswear giant recently relaunched the SL72, a shoe first showcased by athletes at the 1972 Olympics, as part of a series reviving old classic sneakers.

Eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer were killed at the 1972 Munich Games after gunmen from the Palestinian Black September group broke into the Olympic village and took them hostage.

Hadid, who was born in the US but has Palestinian roots through her father, has been vocal about her support for Palestinian rights since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 triggered the war in Gaza.

Adidas said it would be “revising the remainder of the campaign” with immediate effect.

“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events — though these are completely unintentional — and we apologise for any upset or distress caused,” the company said in a statement sent to AFP on Friday.

‘Collective memory’

A spokeswoman confirmed that Hadid had been removed from the campaign, which notes that the shoes were first introduced in 1972 but never mentions the terror attack on the Israeli athletes.

Pictures of the American model wearing the retro Adidas shoes had caused an outcry among pro-Israeli groups.

“Guess who the face of the campaign is? Bella Hadid, a model with Palestinian roots who has spread anti-Semitism in the past and incited violence against Israelis and Jews,” the Israeli embassy in Germany wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.

“How can Adidas now claim that the reference [to the events in Munich] was ‘completely unintentional’?” Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to Germany, said in response to the company’s climbdown.

“The terror of 1972 is etched into the collective memory of Germans and Israelis,” he told Die Welt TV on Friday.

A flood of social media posts meanwhile expressed support for Hadid, criticised Adidas for axing the model, and called for a boycott of the company.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations

The Gaza war was triggered by the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel’s military retaliation to wipe out Hamas has killed at least 38,848 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Hadid has taken part in several pro-Palestinian demonstrations during the conflict and has described Israel’s offensive as a “genocide”.

In 2021, Hadid, her sister Gigi Hadid and singer Dua Lipa were described as anti-Semitic in an advertisement published in The New York Times by a Jewish group called the World Values Network.

Adidas said it would be continuing the SL72 campaign with other famous faces including footballer Jules Kounde, singer Melissa Bon and model Sabrina Lan.

In late 2022, Adidas ended its contract with the US rapper now known formally as Ye after he triggered an outcry with a series of anti-Semitic social media posts.

Germany’s response to the Hamas attack and ensuing war has been driven by guilt over its own dark past, and the slaughter of six million Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

The country has steadfastly backed Israel in the conflict, but its unwavering stance has led to claims that Palestinian voices are being marginalised.

July 20, 2024
Why are thousands in Bannu protesting?

Thousands of people rallied on Friday against a planned operation by the Pakistan military to root out militants along the Afghan border, with at least one protester killed when gunfire broke out, officials and witnesses told AFP.

More than 10,000 people waving white flags and calling for peace gathered for the rally in Bannu — 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Afghanistan — where a suicide bomber on Monday rammed an explosive-packed vehicle into an army enclave, killing eight Pakistani troops.

“Military operations have been ongoing for 20 years, yet peace has not been established,” protester Jamaluddin Wazir told AFP.

“Military operations can never be a substitute for peace.”

Pakistan’s government announced earlier this year, without giving details, that the military would launch a new campaign to counter violence in areas along the border with Afghanistan, which has surged following the Taliban government’s return to power.

Friday’s protest turned violent when crowds reached the walls of an army facility and gunfire broke out, witnesses and officials reported.

“They chanted slogans against the army, and some started throwing stones at the facility’s wall. This led to firing in the air by the military, causing a stampede,” an intelligence official in the nearby city of Peshawar told AFP on condition of anonymity.

At least one protester died, according to Pakhtun Yar, the provincial minister for public health, who was a speaker at the protest.
He accused the military of opening fire on the protesters.

For years the Pakistan Taliban — a separate group from the Afghan Taliban but with a similar ideology — waged a bloody campaign in the area, killing thousands of civilians and taking control of parts of the border region, before being pushed back by a military campaign that began in 2014.
The clearance operation displaced hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed countless homes and businesses, sparking a local backlash calling for the rights of ethnic Pashtuns to be protected.

But protests against the powerful military, which analysts say holds large sway over the government and foreign policy, are rare and often brought down quickly.

Former prime minister Imran Khan, who waged a campaign of defiance against army chiefs after being ousted from power, is currently in jail on charges of inciting protests against the military.

His party has faced a major crackdown, with supporters and leaders rounded up last year for staging an unprecedented day of rallies against the military, accusing it of interfering in politics.

Violence has surged along the border since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to root out groups taking shelter on Afghan soil while preparing assaults on Pakistan.

The Taliban government insists it will not allow foreign militant outfits to operate from Afghanistan, but Islamabad-Kabul relations have soured over the issue.

July 20, 2024
Bangladesh imposes curfew, calls in military after deadly unrest

Bangladesh on Friday announced the imposition of a curfew and the deployment of military forces after police failed to quell days of deadly unrest that has spread throughout the country.

This week’s clashes between student demonstrators and police have killed at least 105 people, according to an AFP count of victims reported by hospitals, and pose a momentous challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic government after 15 years in office.

“The government has decided to impose a curfew and deploy the military in aid of the civilian authorities,” Hasina’s press secretary Nayeemul Islam Khan told AFP.

He added that the curfew would take immediate effect.

Police in the capital Dhaka earlier took the drastic step of banning all public gatherings for the day — a first since protests began — in an effort to forestall more violence.

“We’ve banned all rallies, processions and public gatherings in Dhaka today,” police chief Habibur Rahman told AFP, adding the move was necessary to ensure “public safety”.

That however did not stop another round of confrontations between police and protesters around the sprawling megacity of 20 million people, despite an internet shutdown aimed at frustrating the organisation of rallies.

“Our protest will continue,” Sarwar Tushar, who joined a march in the capital and sustained minor injuries when it was violently dispersed by police, told AFP.

“We want the immediate resignation of Sheikh Hasina. The government is responsible for the killings.”

Student protesters stormed a jail in the central Bangladeshi district of Narsingdi and freed its inmates before setting the facility on fire, a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“I don’t know the number of inmates, but it would be in the hundreds,” he added.

‘Shocking and unacceptable’

At least 52 people were killed in the capital on Friday, according to a list drawn up by the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and seen by AFP.

Police fire was the cause of more than half of the deaths reported so far this week, based on descriptions given to AFP by hospital staff.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the attacks on student protesters were “shocking and unacceptable”.

“There must be impartial, prompt and exhaustive investigations into these attacks, and those responsible held to account,” he said in a statement.

The capital’s police force earlier said protesters had on Thursday torched, vandalised and carried out “destructive activities” on numerous police and government offices.

Among them was the Dhaka headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh Television, which remains offline after hundreds of incensed students stormed the premises and set fire to a building.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP that officers had arrested Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, one of the top leaders of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

‘Symbol of a rigged system’

Near-daily marches this month have called for an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country’s 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

Critics say the scheme benefits children of pro-government groups that back Hasina, 76, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Hasina’s government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Her administration this week ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely as police stepped up efforts to bring the deteriorating law and order situation under control.

“This is an eruption of the simmering discontent of a youth population built over years,” Ali Riaz, a politics professor at Illinois State University, told AFP.

“The job quotas became the symbol of a system which is rigged and stacked against them by the regime.”

‘Nation-scale’ internet shutdown

Students say they are determined to press on with protests despite Hasina giving a national address earlier this week on the now-offline state broadcaster seeking to calm the unrest.

Nearly half of Bangladesh’s 64 districts reported clashes on Thursday, broadcaster Independent Television reported.

London-based watchdog NetBlocks said Friday that a “nation-scale” internet shutdown remained in effect a day after it was imposed.

“Metrics show connectivity flatlining at 10% of ordinary levels, raising concerns over public safety as little news flows in or out of the country,” it wrote on social media platform X.

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© Agence France-Presse

July 20, 2024
‘Large-scale’ IT outage hits companies worldwide

A major outage wrought havoc on global computer systems on Friday, grounding flights in the United States, derailing television broadcasts in the UK and impacting telecommunications in Australia.

Major US air carriers including Delta, United and American Airlines grounded all flights on Friday over a communication issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Flights were suspended at Berlin Brandenburg airport in Germany due to a “technical problem”, a spokeswoman told AFP.

“There are delays to check-in, and flight operations had to be cancelled until 10:00 am (0800 GMT),” the spokeswoman said, adding that she could not say when they would resume.

All airports in Spain were experiencing “disruptions” from an IT outage that has hit several companies worldwide on Friday, the airport operator Aena said.

Hong Kong’s airport also said some airlines had been affected, with its authority issuing a statement in which it linked the disruption to a Microsoft outage.

The UK’s biggest rail operator meanwhile warned of possible train cancellations due to IT issues, while photos posted online showed large queues forming at Sydney Airport in Australia.

“Flights are currently arriving and departing however there may be some delays throughout the evening,” a Sydney Airport spokesman said.

“We have activated our contingency plans with our airline partners and deployed additional staff to our terminals to assist passengers.”

Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator said the “large-scale technical outage” was caused by an issue with a “third-party software platform”, adding there was no information as yet to suggest hacker involvement.

Banks, airports hit

Sky News in the UK said the glitch had ended its morning news broadcasts, while Australian broadcaster ABC similarly reported a major “outage”.

Some self-checkout terminals at one of Australia’s largest supermarket chains were rendered useless, displaying blue error messages.

New Zealand media said banks and computer systems inside the country’s parliament were reporting issues.

Australian telecommunications firm Telstra suggested the outages were caused by “global issues” plaguing software provided by Microsoft and cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Microsoft said in a statement it was taking “mitigation actions” in response to service issues.

It was not clear if those were linked to the global outages.

“Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions,” Microsoft said in a post on social media platform X.

CrowdStrike could not immediately be reached for comment.

‘Enormous’

University of Melbourne expert Toby Murray said there were indications the problem was linked to a security tool called Crowdstrike Falcon.

“CrowdStrike is a global cyber security and threat intelligence company,” Murray said.

“Falcon is what is known as an endpoint detection and response platform, which monitors the computers that it is installed on to detect intrusions (i.e. hacks) and respond to them.”

University of South Australia cybersecurity researcher Jill Slay said the global impact of the outages was likely to be “enormous”.

sft/djw/ser/mca

© Agence France-Presse

July 19, 2024
Emmy nominees in key categories

Here is a list of the nominees in key categories for the 76th Emmy Awards, which will be handed out in Los Angeles on September 15.

FX’s epic Japanese drama “Shogun” topped the nominations list with 25, followed by two comedies — FX’s “The Bear” at 23 and Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building at 21.

“True Detective: Night Country” led the nominees in the limited or anthology series categories at 19.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

“The Crown”

“Fallout”

“The Gilded Age”

“The Morning Show”

“Mr & Mrs Smith”

“Shogun”

“Slow Horses”

“3 Body Problem”

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

“Abbott Elementary”

“The Bear”

“Curb Your Enthusiasm”

“Hacks”

“Only Murders in the Building”

“Palm Royale”

“Reservation Dogs”

“What We Do in the Shadows”

OUTSTANDING LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES

“Baby Reindeer”

“Fargo”

“Lessons in Chemistry”

“Ripley”

“True Detective: Night Country”

LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA

Idris Elba, “Hijack”

Donald Glover, “Mr & Mrs Smith”

Walton Goggins, “Fallout”

Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”

Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shogun”

Dominic West, “The Crown”

LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA

Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show”

Carrie Coon, “The Gilded Age”

Maya Erskine, “Mr & Mrs Smith”

Anna Sawai, “Shogun”

Imelda Staunton, “The Crown”

Reese Witherspoon, “The Morning Show”

LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY

Matt Berry, “What We Do in the Shadows”

Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”

Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”

Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”

Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”

D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, “Reservation Dogs”

LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY

Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”

Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”

Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”

Maya Rudolph, “Loot”

Jean Smart, “Hacks”

Kristen Wiig, “Palm Royale”

LEAD ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Matt Bomer, “Fellow Travelers”

Richard Gadd, “Baby Reindeer”

Jon Hamm, “Fargo”

Tom Hollander, “Feud: Capote vs the Swans”

Andrew Scott, “Ripley”

LEAD ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Jodie Foster, “True Detective: Night Country”

Brie Larson, “Lessons in Chemistry”

Juno Temple, “Fargo”

Sofia Vergara, “Griselda”

Naomi Watts, “Feud: Capote vs the Swans”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA

Tadanobu Asano, “Shogun”

Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”

Mark Duplass, “The Morning Show”

Jon Hamm, “The Morning Show”

Takehiro Hira, “Shogun”

Jack Lowden, “Slow Horses”

Jonathan Pryce, “The Crown”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA

Christine Baranski, “The Gilded Age”

Nicole Beharie, “The Morning Show”

Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown”

Greta Lee, “The Morning Show”

Lesley Manville, “The Crown”

Karen Pittman, “The Morning Show”

Holland Taylor, “The Morning Show”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY

Lionel Boyce, “The Bear”

Paul W. Downs, “Hacks”

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”

Paul Rudd, “Only Murders in the Building”

Tyler James Williams, “Abbott Elementary”

Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY

Carol Burnett, “Palm Royale”

Liza Colon-Zayas, “The Bear”

Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”

Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”

Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”

Meryl Streep, “Only Murders in the Building”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Jonathan Bailey, “Fellow Travelers”

Robert Downey Jr., “The Sympathizer”

Tom Goodman-Hill, “Baby Reindeer”

John Hawkes, “True Detective: Night Country”

Lamorne Morris, “Fargo”

Lewis Pullman, “Lessons in Chemistry”

Treat Williams, “Feud: Capote vs the Swans”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Dakota Fanning, “Ripley”

Lily Gladstone, “Under the Bridge”

Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer”

Aja Naomi King, “Lessons in Chemistry”

Diane Lane, “Feud: Capote vs the Swans”

Nava Mau, “Baby Reindeer”

Kali Reis, “True Detective: Night Country”

Programs with most overall nominations:

“Shogun” – 25

“The Bear” – 23

“Only Murders in the Building” – 21

“True Detective: Night Country” – 19

“The Crown” – 18

“Saturday Night Live” – 17

July 18, 2024
Biden tests positive for Covid, fueling health worries

US President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid with mild symptoms Wednesday, shortly after conceding he would consider dropping his reelection bid if doctors diagnosed him with a serious medical condition.

The 81-year-old Democrat gave reporters the thumbs up and said “I feel good” as he cut short a trip to Las Vegas and flew to his beach home in Delaware to go into isolation, which will take him off the campaign trail for days.

Biden thanked well-wishers on X, adding that “I will be isolating as I recover, and during this time I will continue to work to get the job done for the American people.”

The infection comes at a critical moment for Biden’s campaign, with the president seeking to show he is up to the job after a disastrous debate performance against rival Donald Trump sparked concerns about his health and calls from some Democrats for him to step aside.

It is also the latest development in a tumultuous few days in an already frenetic White House race that saw Trump survive an assassination attempt at a campaign rally.

Biden was forced to cancel a speech to a union representing Latino workers who will be crucial for his election bid, having attended a campaign event earlier in the day and given a radio interview.

His spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was vaccinated and boosted, was now taking the Covid medication Paxlovid and “continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation.”

White House doctor Kevin O’Connor said Biden had complained of suffering from a runny nose, a cough and “general malaise,” but that “his symptoms remain mild.”

Biden was seen walking from his limousine to his plane at Las Vegas without a mask. “Good,” he said when asked how he felt, “I feel good.”

Janet Murguia, the president of the Unidos union for Latino workers, told the crowd about the diagnosis shortly before the White House announcement.

‘Pass the torch’

People waiting for the speech said Biden’s health did not worry them despite the Covid diagnosis.

“I think he’s strong and he’s going to recover soon,” Anne Vilagut told AFP.

But Biden’s illness comes as concerns over the fitness of the oldest US president in US history reach fever pitch.

Asked what could make him rethink his presidential bid, Biden told the Black media outlet BET in an interview taped Tuesday in Las Vegas: “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if the doctors came and said ‘you’ve got this problem, that problem.’”

Biden has so far refused to drop out, and blamed his debate debacle, when he appeared tired and confused, on a bad cold and jet lag.

But US broadcaster ABC News reported Wednesday that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had told Biden over the weekend that it would be “better for the country if he were to bow out,” in what would be a fatal blow.

A spokesperson for Schumer played down the report, saying: “Unless ABC’s source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden the reporting is idle speculation.”

“Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden.”

The Washington Post and New York Times meanwhile reported that both Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had warned Biden that his candidacy puts the party’s electoral prospects at risk.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates pushed back in a statement, saying: “The President told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win, and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families.”

Adding further pressure, CNN reported that former House speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told Biden he cannot win and could harm Democrats’ chances of recapturing the lower chamber of Congress.

Earlier on Wednesday, Representative Adam Schiff of California became the highest-profile Democrat to publicly urge Biden to “pass the torch.”

“A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November,” Schiff said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.

Biden insists that Democratic voters support him, but a poll by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research said Wednesday that nearly two-thirds want him to step aside.

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© Agence France-Presse

July 18, 2024
Six killed, hundreds injured as student protests rage across Bangladesh

Bangladesh ordered schools across the country on Tuesday to close indefinitely after six students were killed as protests over quotas for coveted government jobs turned into deadly clashes, prompting the mobilisation of paramilitaries to keep order.

Following escalating demonstrations against civil service hiring policies, every high school, Islamic seminary, and vocational education institute in the country was told to remain shut until further notice.

Tuesday saw a significant escalation in violence as protesters and pro-government student groups attacked each other with hurled bricks and bamboo rods, and police dispersed rallies with tear gas and rubber bullets. Demonstrators mobilised in cities, defying earlier calls by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Supreme Court to return to class.

Three died in Chittagong and had signs of “bullet injuries”, hospital director Mohammad Taslimuddin said, adding that another 35 had been injured during clashes in the port city.

Border security force deployed in Dhaka, Chittagong and three other cities as protesting students demand end to job quota system

Another two died in Dhaka, where rival student groups threw bricks at each other and blocked roads in several key locations that ground traffic to a halt in the megacity of 20 million.

Police inspector Bacchu Mia confirmed the deaths to AFP, saying one had succumbed to head injuries, while at least 60 people were also injured.

In the northern city of Rangpur, police commissioner Mohammad Moniruzzaman said a student had been killed in clashes there. He did not give details as to how the student died, but said police had fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters.

Rangpur Medical College hospital director Yunus Ali said the “student was brought dead to the hospital by other students”.

Tauhidul Haque Siam from Rokeya University told AFP that ruling party supporters had attacked anti-quota protesters, while police fired rubber pellets from shotguns. “Police opened fire from their shotguns on the protesters,” Siam said, adding he had been injured.

He said the dead student had been “killed in the firing”. But it was not possible to independently verify his account.

As the day wore on and with some key highways around the country blocked by the protesters, authorities deployed the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) force in five major cities, including Dhaka and Chittagong.

They had been tasked with controlling “the law and order situation in view of the quota protests”, a BGB spokesman said.

‘Violence against peaceful protesters’

Tuesday clashes came a day after confrontations between anti-quota demonstrators and members of the ruling Awami League’s student wing that left over 400 people injured in Dhaka.

“We are not here to do violence,” said a protester in Dhaka who declined to give their name for fear of reprisal. “We simply want our rights. But the ruling party goons are attacking our peaceful protests.”

Near-daily marches this month have demanded an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups.

Critics say the scheme benefits children of pro-government groups that back PM Hasina, 76, who won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote “without genuine opposition”.

Amnesty International afterwards urged Bangladesh to “immediately guarantee the safety of all peaceful protesters”.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also denounced the “violence against peaceful protesters”, prompting a rebuke from Bangladesh’s foreign ministry.

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July 18, 2024
Israel bombs Gaza after US criticises high civilian toll

Authorities in Gaza said dozens of Palestinians were killed in three separate strikes, as Israel pounded the territory despite renewed US criticism of the high civilian toll.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the three air strikes killed at least 44 people and wounded dozens within an hour across the war-torn Palestinian territory. Israel confirmed it carried out two of the strikes.

The health ministry said a strike on a fuel station in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza killed 17 people, and the Palestinian Red Crescent said a separate strike almost simultaneously hit the UN-run Al-Razi School in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing five people.

The civil defence agency said the third strike was on a gathering of people near a roundabout in northern Gaza, but did not provide a breakdown of casualties.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier conveyed Washington’s “serious concern” to two senior Israeli officials regarding deadly Israeli strikes in Gaza, his spokesman said.

“We have seen civilian casualties come down from the high points of the conflict… but they still remain unacceptably high,” spokesman Matthew Miller said after Blinken met Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi.

Washington has been pushing for a truce between Israel and Hamas.

A senior Hamas official said Sunday the group was pulling out of indirect talks for a deal in protest at Israeli “massacres”, including a major strike that Gaza’s health ministry said killed at least 92 people on that day.

Hamas was ready to return to the indirect talks once Israel “demonstrates seriousness in reaching a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange deal”, he said.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to ramp up pressure on Hamas.

“This is exactly the time to increase the pressure even more, to bring home all the hostages -– the living and the dead –- and to achieve all the war objectives,” he said.

Prisoner abuse allegations

Israel’s military said aircraft struck about “40 terror targets” in Gaza, including “sniping posts, observation posts, Hamas military structures, terror infrastructure, and buildings rigged with explosives”.

It said troops were continuing targeted raids in the southern city of Rafah and in central Gaza.

The UN humanitarian office OCHA said multiple strikes across Gaza on Tuesday killed and wounded dozens.

Hamas seized 251 hostages after October 7, 116 of whom are still in Gaza including 42 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel has killed at least 38,713 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry.

Israel’s military has also detained scores of Gazans, who have made allegations of torture, rape and other abuses in custody that Israeli authorities have denied.

Palestinian lawyer Khaled Mahajna said Monday that prisoners had recounted guards using “electric prods” on inmates.

In one prisoner’s case, a “fire extinguisher tube was inserted into his buttocks and the fire extinguisher was turned on,” Mahajna said after visiting detained Palestinian journalists.

Mass displacement

Indirect talks on ending the devastating war have been brokered by Qatar and Egypt, with US support, but months of negotiations have failed to bring a breakthrough.

At the end of May, US President Joe Biden outlined a ceasefire roadmap he said had been drawn up by Israel that triggered an intensification of the talks.

But despite meetings in both Cairo and Doha, there has been no sign of progress on how this might be implemented.

Critics in Israel, including tens of thousands of demonstrators demanding a deal to bring home the hostages, have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war.

The conflict has forced 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.4 million people to flee their homes. Many have sought refuge in UN-run schools, seven of which have been hit by Israeli strikes since July 6.

“Why do they target us when we are innocent people?” asked Umm Mohammed al-Hasanat, sheltering with her family at a UN-run school in Nuseirat, which was among those hit.

“We do not carry weapons but are just sitting and trying to find safety for ourselves and our children.”

The war has also sparked near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, which says it is acting in support of Hamas.

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Lebanese official media said Israeli strikes Tuesday on southern Lebanon killed five people, including three Syrian children, with Hezbollah announcing rocket fire at Israel in retaliation.

Meanwhile near Tel Aviv ultra-orthodox Jewish protesters fought police, hours after the Israeli military said it would begin issuing draft notices for men in the community from Sunday.

Historically exempt from compulsory military service, ultra-Orthodox seminary students are being called up as the Gaza war and potential conflict with Hezbollah sap resources and fuel resentment against those who do not have to serve.

July 17, 2024