US President Donald Trump said “nothing definitive” was agreed but that he had “insisted” talks with Iran continue during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.

The two leaders met at the White House as tensions continue to rise across the Middle East and negotiations intensify over curbing Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.

Netanyahu was expected to press Trump to pursue a deal that would not only halt Iran’s uranium enrichment, but cut its ballistic missile programme and support for proxy groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran has suggested it is ready to limit its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief, but has rejected the other demands.

Ahead of the White House meeting, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned his country would “not yield to their excessive demands”.

Netanyahu’s visit marks his sixth trip to the US since Trump’s return to office – more than any other world leader. The Israeli Prime Minister was brought in through a side entrance for the closed-door meeting on Wednesday.

In a post on Truth Social afterwards, Trump said the meeting between the leaders had been “very good”.

“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated,” he said.

He added a deal was his “preference” but if one could not be reached “we will just have to see what the outcome will be”.

Netanyahu’s office said the leaders had discussed “the security needs of the State of Israel in the context of the negotiations” and agreed to continue their “close coordination and relationship”.

A close Trump ally, Netanyahu has long argued that Iran represents an existential security threat to Israel and has pushed the US to curb Tehran’s influence in the region.

“The prime minister believes that any negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement ahead of his trip.

After arriving in Washington on Tuesday, Netanyahu met Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The pair “provided an update on the first round of negotiations they held with Iran last Friday”, according to the prime minister’s office.

Netanyahu’s visit comes as the US increases its military presence in the Middle East, with Trump warning Tehran of strikes if it fails to reach a deal on its nuclear programme and to stop killing protesters.

On Tuesday, the president said that he was “thinking” about sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East.

The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was sent to the region last month after Trump threatened to strike Iran to stop a government crackdown on mass protests in which thousands of people were killed.

“We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going,” Trump said in an interview with Axios. He said Iran “wants to make a deal very badly”, adding that a diplomatic solution remained possible.

Trump told Fox Business that a good deal would mean “no nuclear weapons, no missiles”.

In a speech at a rally in Tehran on Wednesday marking the 47th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution, Pezeshkian said: “Our Iran will not yield in the face of aggression, but we are continuing dialogue with all our strength with neighbouring countries in order to establish peace and tranquillity in the region.”

The Iranian president also reiterated that his country was “not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons”. “We have stated this repeatedly and are ready for any verification,” he added.

Israeli officials have also said their country reserves the right to take military action against Iran if it does not reach a nuclear agreement with the US.

Netanyahu is under pressure from far-right allies in his government to use his ties to Trump to push for a wide-ranging US-Iran deal that meets the Israeli government’s security concerns, experts say.

“Israel is concerned that in the haste to get a deal with Iran, the president might embrace a deal that doesn’t address Iran’s missile programme or support for proxy groups, or that allows it to have some remnant of its nuclear programme,” said Daniel Byman, a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

“One worry Israel and other allies have about the US under Trump is that he wants a deal more than he wants a particular outcome,” added Byman.

Analysts say Iran’s leaders are in a weaker position now after the mass protests and a 12-day air campaign by the US and Israel last year, during which Iranian nuclear and military sites were bombed.

“The Iranian regime today is really vulnerable,” said Mohammed Hafez, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and expert on Middle Eastern politics. “The US and Israel feel they hold all the cards, Iran is on its back foot, and they can make these maximalist demands.”

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L’article Trump tells Netanyahu Iran nuclear talks must continue est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

The US is seen with growing suspicion within Kurdish communities and elites, which is changing political calculations.

Last month during the violent clashes between Kurdish forces and the Syrian army, the United States delivered a devastating message to Syria’s Kurds: Their partnership with Washington had “expired“. This was not merely a statement of shifting priorities – it was a clear signal that the US was siding with Damascus and abandoning the Kurds at their most vulnerable moment.

For the Kurds across the region watching events unfold, the implications were profound. The US is no longer perceived as a reliable partner or supporter of minorities.

This development is likely to have an impact not just on the Kurdish community in Syria but also those in Iraq, Turkiye and Iran.

Fears of repeat marginalisation in Syria

US support for Damascus under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa paves the way for a centralised Syrian state – an arrangement that Kurds throughout the region view with deep suspicion. Their wariness is rooted in bitter historical experience.

Centralised states in the Middle East have historically marginalised, excluded and assimilated Kurdish minorities. The prospect of such a system emerging in Syria, with US backing, represents a fundamental divergence from Kurdish hopes for the region’s future.

The approach the Assad regime to the Kurdish question was built on systematic denial. Kurds were not recognised as a distinct collective group within Syria’s national fabric; the state banned the public use of the Kurdish language and Kurdish names. Many Kurds were denied citizenship.

Al-Sharaa’s presidential decree of January 16 promised Kurds some rights while the January 30 agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) included limited recognition of Kurdish collective identity, including acknowledgment of “Kurdish regions” – terminology conspicuously absent from Syria’s political vocabulary and government documents in the past.

These represent incremental gains, but they are unfolding within a transitional government structure that aims for centralisation as its ultimate objective. That is why Syrian Kurds remain suspicious of whether the promises made today will be upheld in the future.

While a consensus has emerged among the majority of Kurdish groups that armed resistance is not strategically viable at this stage, any future engagement with the US will be perceived with mistrust.

Possibility of renewed Shia-Kurdish alliance in Iraq

After years of power rivalries between Shia and Kurdish parties in Iraq, both groups are now observing developments in Syria and potential changes in Iran with a shared sense of threat and common interests. If in 2003, their alliance was driven by a shared past – the suffering under Saddam Hussein’s regime – today it is being guided by a shared future shaped by fears of being marginalised in the region.

At both the political and popular levels, Shia and Kurdish parties and communities have had much more in common over the past few weeks than in the past. This convergence is evident not only in elite political calculations but also in public sentiment across both communities.

For the first time in recent memory, both Kurdish elites and ordinary citizens in Iraq are no longer enthusiastic about regime change in Iran, a position that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago.

In addition, last month, Iraq’s Shia Coordination Framework, an alliance of its Shia political parties, nominated Nouri al-Maliki for prime minister, the most powerful position in the Iraqi government. Remarkably, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the dominant Kurdish political force, welcomed the nomination.

The KDP’s support for al-Maliki was not solely a reaction to anger over US policy in Syria. It was also rooted in Iraqi and Kurdish internal politics. The endorsement is part of an ongoing rivalry between the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over Iraq’s presidency, an office reserved for the Kurds. The KDP needs allies in Baghdad to ensure its candidate, rather than the PUK’s, secures the position.

However, Washington might see an alignment between the KDP-led Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq and an al-Maliki-led government or a similar government in Baghdad as not conducive to its interests in Iraq, especially its efforts to curb Iranian influence.

Before casting blame, Washington should ask itself why the Kurds feels compelled to adopt this position. The Kurdish stance cannot be fully understood without factoring US policy in Syria into the discussion. From a Kurdish perspective, the US has not been a neutral arbiter in Syria.

The peace process in Turkiye

Over the past year, many believed that the sustainability of Turkiye’s peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) hinged on a resolution of the Kurdish question in Syria and the fate of the SDF.

The violent clashes between Damascus, backed by Ankara and Washington, and the SDF threatened to close the door on negotiations. Remarkably, however, not all avenues have been shut.

It now appears the two issues are being treated as separate files. Negotiations with the PKK are likely to continue within Turkiye’s borders, and crucially, PKK leaders have not translated their disappointment over the weakening of the SDF into a definitive rejection of talks with Ankara.

What sustains this dynamic is that the SDF has not been entirely dismantled, leaving some breathing room for continued dialogue between Ankara and the PKK.

The Iranian Kurds

The Iranian Kurds, although farther away from Syria, have also observed events there and made their conclusions. The abandonment of the SDF reveals the unpredictable nature of US support for the region’s minorities.

In light of this and given continuing US incitement against the Iranian regime, it is quite significant that the Iranian Kurds collectively and deliberately decided not to be at the forefront of the recent protests or allow themselves to be instrumentalised by Western media.

The Kurdish community in Iran is not enthusiastic about a potential return of Reza Pahlavi, who clearly enjoys support from Washington, and the restoration of the shah’s legacy, which was also oppressive. Iranian opposition groups – many of them based in the West – have not offered a better prospect for the Kurdish question. There is widespread fear that the current regime could simply be replaced by another with no guarantee for Kurdish rights.

Some Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish armed groups did carry out attacks on Iranian positions near the Iran-Iraq border. But the main Iranian Kurdish armed actors chose not to engage directly or escalate militarily. Their calculations are based on the uncertainty about the endgame envisioned by Israel and the US and the reality that any escalation would provoke Iranian retaliation against Iraqi Kurds.

With each abandonment of its Kurdish allies, the US further erodes the foundation of trust upon which its local partnerships rest. Iraqi and Syrian Kurds have learned to live with American unreliability, but this arrangement may not endure indefinitely. When it fractures, the consequences for US influence in the region could be profound.

By Kamaran Palani – Aljazeera

L’article Analysis. US abandoning the SDF has impacted Kurds across the region est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of US troops to Portland, Oregon, authorising use of “full force” if needed.

Trump said he was “directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland”.

He claimed that the move would help protect “any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” adding on Truth Social: “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”

The announcement drew pushback from Democratic lawmakers, who said there was no need for federal troops to be deployed to the city.

“There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm,” said Oregon Governor Tina Kotek in a statement, adding that she has asked the Trump administration for further information.

Portland’s mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement that the “number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city”.

Saturday’s announcement marks the further expansion of deployment of troops in American cities, amid a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on illegal immigration.

Trump’s post does not specify whether he intends to activate national guard or regular US military. The post also did not specify what is meant by the use of “full force”.

“We stand ready to mobilize U.S. military personnel in support of DHS operations in Portland at the President’s direction,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman, Sean Parnell told the BBC. “The Department will provide information and updates as they become available.”

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland has been targeted by protesters since early June, sometimes leading to violent clashes.

As of 8 September, the US Attorney’s Office had brought federal charges against 26 people for crimes including arson, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that demonstrators had “repeatedly attacked and laid siege to an ICE processing centre” in Portland.

In a post on the social media platform X, the department stated that several individuals had been arrested and charged with federal offences.

“Rose City Antifa, a recently designated domestic terrorist organization, illegally doxed ICE officers. They published their home address online and on public flyers. Individuals associated with Antifa also sent death threats to DHS personnel,” DHS wrote on X.

Earlier this week, Trump signed an order formally designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organisation.

Antifa, short for “anti-fascist”, is a loosely organised movement of primarily far-left activists.

Legal experts have pointed out that there is no legal mechanism in the US that would formally establish any group as a domestic terror organisation. Such efforts, they said, could face constitutional challenges under the First Amendment, which protects free speech and assembly.

Democratic lawmakers have criticised both the president’s rhetoric and the reported actions of ICE agents in the state.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said on Friday that there were “credible” reports that federal agents “may be replaying the 2020 playbook “, in a reference to federal forces being deployed in response to protests against the murder of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody.

“I urge Oregonians not to fall into Trump’s attempt to incite violence,” Wyden said.

Local lawmakers have also accused ICE of going after people who are not an actual danger to society.

“ICE has said they’re targeting people for arrest and detainment who have committed crimes. That’s what they told us. But that’s not what we are seeing,” said Democratic house representative Suzanne Bonamici on Friday.

Lawmakers cited recent incidents, including the detention of a father outside his child’s preschool and a wildland firefighter who was arrested while battling fires in the Olympic National Forest.

They also pointed to a statistic published by the Cato Institute, a US think tank based in Washington DC, which reported that 65% of people detained by ICE had no criminal convictions.

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L’article Debate. Trump orders deployment of troops to Portland and authorises ‘full force’.. Video est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

La fin de 13 jours de conflit? Donald Trump a annoncé hier soir que l’Iran et Israël avaient accepté un “cessez-le-feu total” devant débuter aujourd’hui. Après avoir fustigé les deux camps pour leur violation du cessez-le-feu ce matin, le président américain a assuré qu’il était en vigueur.

Donald Trump a assuré mardi que le cessez-le-feu entre Israël et l’Iran était désormais en vigueur, après avoir accusé les deux belligérants de l’avoir violé plus tôt. Le président les avait appelés à la mesure, se disant “pas content” d’eux, et leur demandant d’arrêter de lancer des missiles et de faire rentrer tous les avions.

Israël et l’Iran se sont eux accusés mutuellement d’avoir violé le cessez-le-feu et s’étaient dits prêts à riposter fermement à toute agression.

Le président iranien Massoud Pezeshkian a déclaré mardi que son pays ne cherchait pas à se doter de l’arme atomique, mais qu’il continuerait à défendre ses “droits légitimes” pour son programme nucléaire civil. Il a ajouté que l’Iran était prêt à résoudre les différends “à la table des négociations”.

– Benjamin Netanyahu a également annoncé avoir atteint “tous les objectifs” de son attaque contre l’Iran, en ayant éliminé la “double menace existentielle” du nucléaire et des missiles iraniens..

De la Turquie à l’Arabie saoudite, en passant par la Russie et la France, la communauté internationale s’est félicitée de la conclusion d’un cessez-le-feu et a appelé les deux parties à le respecter.

La guerre déclenchée par Israël contre l’Iran le 13 juin a fait à la date de mardi au moins 610 morts et plus de 4700 blessés, selon un nouveau bilan communiqué par le ministère de la Santé iranien

L’Iran “prêt à résoudre les différends à la table des négociations”, affirme son président

Le président iranien Massoud Pezeshkian a déclaré mardi que son pays ne cherchait pas à se doter de l’arme atomique, mais qu’il continuerait à défendre ses “droits légitimes” pour son programme nucléaire civil, alors qu’un cessez-le-feu est entré en vigueur avec Israël.

“Nous attendons de vous que vous leur expliquiez, dans vos relations avec les Etats-Unis, que la République islamique d’Iran cherche uniquement à faire valoir ses droits légitimes”, a déclaré Massoud Pezeshkian lors d’un appel téléphonique avec le président des Emirats arabes unis, Mohammed ben Zayed, selon l’agence officielle Irna.

Il a ajouté par ailleurs que l’Iran était “prêt à résoudre les différends (…) à la table des négociations”.

Le président iranien dit que son pays respectera le cessez-le-feu si Israël fait de même

Le président iranien Massoud Pezeshkian a déclaré que Téhéran respecterait le cessez-le-feu avec Israël, à condition qu’Israël en respecte également les termes.

“Si le régime sioniste ne viole pas le cessez-le-feu, l’Iran ne le violera pas non plus”, a affirmé Massoud Pezeshkian lors d’un entretien téléphonique avec le Premier ministre malaisien Anwar Ibrahim, selon le site de la présidence.

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L’article Israël – Iran: Le président iranien dit être prêt à revenir “à la table des négociations”.. Vidéos est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

The race is still too close to call between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, with only two days to go until Election Day.

Harris is holding several rallies in Michigan, while Trump is jumping between Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia – all crucial swing states.

Trump visited Virginia and North Carolina on Saturday, while Harris was also in North Carolina, and made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live in New York City.

The national polls are tightening even further. Harris is now only ahead by one point, within the margin of error.

Hello from Detroit, Michigan, where Kamala Harris is beginning her day at the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ.

At the moment, the minister is giving an impassioned sermon, accompanied by an organ and electric guitar.

As we entered the building, a gospel choir was in full song.

The black churchgoing vote has been the backbone of many a Democratic victory, not just here in Michigan but across the battleground states.

The vice-president’s expected to address the congregation soon.

Media watchdog says no complaint made about Harris SNL appearance

As we reported earlier, Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance last night on the US comedy-skit show Saturday Night Live – its final edition before the election.

Brendan Carr, a Republican member of the media watchdog, the Federal Communications Commission, said Harris’s participation on the NBC programme was “a clear and blatant effort to evade” its “equal time rule”.

But a spokesperson for the FCC tells the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, that it “has not made any determination regarding politically [sic] programming rules, nor have we received a complaint from any interested parties”.

The independent government agency must first receive a formal complaint from a political candidate alleging that they have requested “equal time” and been denied it, in order to review whether the policy was violated.

The Trump campaign has indicated it did not receive an invite to the show but has not yet made a complaint.

Earlier this week, it sued CBS for $10bn alleging the network made a “deceitful” edit of a Harris interview.

Trump uses rally to hit his talking points, again and again

And they might not be what his campaign wants him to focus on, as Trump acknowledged.

The start of his speech in Lititz, Pennsylvania, was on the topic his campaign wanted him to focus on: the economy and inflation. But he quickly veered off the prepared speech on the teleprompter.

Trump started a lengthy section on themes that are less popular among the general public his strategists. These include his repeated complaints over the voting process and some of the nastier language he uses towards leading Democrats and the “fake news”.

His focus on these topics energises his base, but is it the kind of material that will win around crucial undecided voters in the swing states? The very type of voter these last-minute swing state rallies are supposed to win over.

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L’article US election 2024 : Trump vows ‘new golden age’ as Harris targets Michigan two days before election.. Video est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Hamas confirms leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in combat with Israeli forces in Gaza, says he died defending Palestine until the last moments of his life.

International leaders heralded the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as an opportunity to begin ceasefire negotiations — an idea Hezbollah, Israel and Hamas have rebuffed.

Israeli captives held in Gaza will not return until war on Gaza stops and Israeli forces withdraw from the besieged and bombarded territory, senior Hamas official Khalil Hayya says.

Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu says “this is not the end of the war in Gaza” despite the killing of Sinwar.

Lebanese group Hezbollah says it is entering a “new phase” in its fight against invading Israeli troops, adding that it has introduced new weapons over the past days.

In Gaza, at least 42,500 people have been killed and 99,546 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.

International leaders heralded the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as an opportunity to begin ceasefire negotiations — an idea Hezbollah, Israel and Hamas have rebuffed.

Following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza on Thursday, US presidential candidate Kamala Harris said it was time for the “day after to begin” in the Middle East.

The day after his death, however, Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah gave little indication any immediate fighting would stop, with both sides of the conflict instead buckling down on their conflicting demands.

After the Israeli military confirmed it had killed Sinwar, international leaders — led by US President Joe Biden — said that his death would allow ceasefire negotiations to move forward.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Sinwar, who was widely considered to be the primary architect behind the 7 October terrorist attacks, was a big obstacle in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

“On multiple occasions over the past months, Sinwar rebuffed efforts by the United States and its partners to bring this war to a close through an agreement that would return the hostages to their families and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people,” Blinken said in a statement Thursday.

So far, Israel has not given any indication it would be willing to start negotiations with Hamas or its Iran-backed ally, Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the families of hostages Thursday, saying that it was an “important moment” to bring the hostages home, adding that anyone who assisted with the return of hostages would be allowed to leave Gaza.

Still, the leader failed to say how Israel would fulfil Hamas’ key demand that Israel withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu also said after Sinwar’s death was confirmed that the war was not over, with “the task before us not yet complete”.

The Israeli military called up an additional reserve brigade in northern Israel on Thursday, a signal that it is prepared to continue its ground incursion into southern Lebanon whilst it simultaneously pummels Beirut’s suburbs.

Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran sabre-rattle

Senior Hamas official Khalil Al Hayya, who served as the chief negotiator for Hamas in talks for a ceasefire, also gave little hope that the group would be willing to compromise on their ceasefire conditions.

In a televised address, Al Hayya reiterated the group’s core demands that Israel withdraw from the Gaza strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israel be released.

Hezbollah, whose targets Israel is hitting in Lebanon, said that Sinwar’s death meant “the transition to a new and escalating phase in the confrontation with Israel.”

On Friday, the group issued a statement saying their fighters have used new types of precision-guided missiles and explosive drones against Israel in recent days, including one that hit a military training camp in Israel last Sunday, killing four people.

They added that the group were preparing in advance to battle Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and announced several missile and artillery attacks on Israeli forces on the border between the countries overnight.

Iran, who hit Israel in an attack two weeks ago, said that Sinwar would be remembered as an “inspiration”.

Israel has threatened to retaliate to Iran’s attack, compromising that it would not hit military or nuclear targets in the country after Biden warned Netanyahu that the US would not support such attacks.

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L’article Analysis. Hamas confirms Yahya Sinwar killed in Gaza combat with Israel forces.. Hopes for ceasefire diminish day after killing of Hamas leader.. Video est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Democratic presidential candidate in ‘excellent health’ before November’s US election, doctor says.

United States Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, released a letter from her doctor that pronounced her in “excellent health” and fit for high office, in an effort to draw a contrast with her counterpart, Donald Trump.

As president, I will take on corporate price gouging to lower the cost of groceries.

Donald Trump can’t figure out what groceries are. pic.twitter.com/fhvYsYj9Ep

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 12, 2024

In a memo released on Saturday, physician Joshua Simmons said Harris’s April exam was “unremarkable”, noting her active lifestyle, “very healthy diet”, seasonal allergies, sporadic hives, and moderate alcohol use.

“In summary, Vice President Harris remains in excellent health. She possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency, to include those as chief executive, head of state and commander in chief,” Simmons wrote.

Donald Trump’s Project 2025 plan will gut Social Security and Medicare. pic.twitter.com/BcmhhA593n

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 9, 2024

Harris, 59, is running against Republican Trump, 78, for the White House in November.

Locked in a tight race, Harris’s campaign hopes that contrasting her comparative youth and mental acuity with Trump’s more advanced age and tendency to meander, along with the differences in transparency between the two, will help convince undecided voters that she is more fit for office than he is.

Simmons said Harris’s allergies had been well-managed with over-the-counter and prescription medications.

Her urticaria, or hives, were “sporadic and transient and do not seem to be triggered by any particular exposure nor are they associated with other symptoms” and respond well to antihistamine treatment.

Harris has been on allergen immunotherapy for the last three years, dramatically improving her allergy and urticaria symptoms and negating her need for medication other than occasional nasal spray, he said.

Trump’s health

Former President Trump questioned President Joe Biden’s health when the 81-year-old president was seeking re-election. Since Biden was replaced on the ticket with Harris, Trump’s own health has drawn more attention.

According to a Harris aide, the vice president made her medical information public on Saturday in an effort to draw attention to Trump’s refusal to do so.

Trump has released very little health information, including after his ear was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt in July.

Last November, Trump marked Biden’s birthday by releasing a letter from his physician that reported the former president was in “excellent” physical and mental health.

The letter posted on Trump’s social media platform contained no details to support its claims – measures like weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, or the results of any test.

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L’article Kamala Harris releases medical report, drawing contrast with Donald Trump est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Lors d’une conférence de presse cruciale donnée à la fin du sommet de l’Otan, le président américain a défendu jeudi le bilan de son gouvernement, sans toutefois parvenir à éviter de nouvelles gaffes. Sa candidature à un second mandat reste précaire, note la presse.

🇺🇸 l #EEUU

🚨Biden confunde a Zelenski con Putin en cumbre de la OTAN.#Biden #Zelensky #Putin2024 #otan #OTANetwork #noticiaviral #ULTIMAHORA #trend #fyp #virals #Fyp #USA2024 #Amazing #elecciones pic.twitter.com/HzYoNmlxOr

— ElPirobo_TM (@ElPirobo_TM) July 12, 2024

La conférence de presse organisée jeudi soir à la fin du sommet de l’Otan à Washington devait être “la dernière grande occasion pour Joe Biden de prouver qu’il est capable de vaincre Donald Trump en novembre”, rappelle The Wall Street Journal.

#Biden should never leave the race. This is pure comedy pic.twitter.com/sZwmUtsuEG

— Nader H (@anthnader) July 12, 2024

سيداتي وسادتي فلاديمر بوتن !!!؟ يخرب بيت الضحك وجه زيلنسكي مافي فايده يعني 😂😂😂😂😂😂😭😭😭😭
pic.twitter.com/F43Hvz8DdV

— 🦌 مايلز (@StannisDuty) July 11, 2024

Dans un discours mené sur “un ton de défi”, selon le Los Angeles Times, le président américain s’est dit “déterminé à être candidat”, tout en reconnaissant qu’il était “important d’apaiser les peurs”. Le démocrate a dit à plusieurs reprises vouloir “terminer le travail” engagé en 2020, et a assuré qu’il serait toujours capable, s’il était réélu, de “gérer” les présidents chinois et russe, Xi Jinping et Vladimir Poutine, dans trois ans. Il a une nouvelle fois balayé les mauvais sondages d’un revers de main et a affirmé qu’il était “le plus qualifié” pour l’emporter en novembre face à son prédécesseur républicain.

“Biden s’est généralement comporté avec plus d’assurance et a fait moins de longues divagations et de phrases incomplètes que lorsqu’il a débattu face à Trump à la fin du mois dernier”, remarque le Los Angeles Times. Il “a répondu aux questions des journalistes pendant environ une heure, lors d’une conférence de presse qui a mis en évidence sa solide maîtrise de la politique étrangère”, mais sans parvenir à éviter “le genre de trébuchements verbaux qui ont alimenté les inquiétudes des membres de son parti quant à son aptitude à poursuivre sa campagne”, souligne de son côté The Washington Post.

Le correspondant de la BBC aux États-Unis Anthony Zurcher relève notamment “deux gaffes atroces, dont n’importe quel téléspectateur se souviendra” : “Écoutez, je n’aurais pas choisi le vice-président Trump si elle n’était pas qualifiée pour être présidente”, a notamment répondu Joe Biden à une question de Reuters portant sur la confiance qu’il accordait à Kamala Harris. Quelques heures plus tôt, le président américain avait déjà annoncé par erreur – avant de se reprendre – la venue du “président Poutine” avant d’accueillir le président ukrainien, Volodymyr Zelensky, qui devait prononcer un discours.

Join me as I host an event on the Ukraine Compact. https://t.co/lowTdB62WN

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 11, 2024

“La performance de Biden ne fera probablement pas changer l’avis de beaucoup de gens”, relativise de son côté CNN. “Les démocrates qui souhaitent que Biden démissionne peuvent sauter sur une gaffe verbale notable qu’il a faite au début de la conférence de presse, tandis que les partisans de Biden souligneront le temps qu’il a passé à répondre adroitement à diverses questions de politique étrangère”, estime la chaîne américaine.

De nouvelles défections possibles vendredi

Quelques minutes seulement après le départ de Biden de la tribune, deux élus démocrates du Congrès ont d’ailleurs rejoint les membres du parti, dont le nombre est croissant, lui demandant de mettre fin à sa campagne de réélection, rapporte The New York Times. Le quotidien américain estime que d’autres démocrates pourraient faire défection vendredi, “maintenant que les membres du Congrès n’ont plus à craindre d’embarrasser le président lors du sommet de l’Otan”.

Lors de ce grand rendez-vous diplomatique, les homologues de Biden se sont montrés plutôt indulgents à l’égard du président, minimisant sa gaffe au sujet de Poutine. “Il nous arrive à tous de faire des lapsus”, a dit Emmanuel Macron, ajoutant que Joe Biden lui avait paru être “au fait des affaires, précis sur les dossiers, qu’il connaît bien”. Même son de cloche chez le chancelier allemand, Olaf Scholz, pour qui “les lapsus arrivent”. “Si vous regardez bien les gens, vous en trouverez plein”, a-t-il affirmé, saluant “le leadership” du président américain tout au long du sommet. “Je n’ai absolument aucune inquiétude quant à la capacité de l’actuel président des États-Unis à diriger son pays, à mener notre combat pour l’Ukraine et à diriger l’Otan”, a déclaré, quant à lui, le président de la Finlande, Alexander Stubb, tout en déplorant le fait que le clivage politique aux États-Unis soit “toxique”.

Par Noémie Taylor-Rosner – Courrierinternational.com – World Opinions

L’article États-Unis. Dans un discours de “défi”, marqué par des “trébuchements”, Biden maintient sa candidature.. Vidéo est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

More than 130 wildfires are burning across Canada, federal tracker says, as massive blazes force thousands to evacuate.

Thousands of people have been evacuated as enormous, out-of-control wildfires scorch large swaths of territory in western Canada, with the country grappling with what could be another devastating fire season.

This week, residents of the small town of Fort Nelson, in northeastern British Columbia, were forced from their homes as a blaze grew “dramatically” in only a few days and was moving towards the community.

In the neighbouring province of Alberta, authorities gave people in parts of Fort McMurray – a town at the heart of the Canadian tar sands region – about two hours to leave due to an approaching wildfire.

Canada saw its most intense fire season on record last year, with hundreds of wildfires burning in provinces and territories across the country in a crisis experts said was worsened by climate change.

Here’s all you need to know about the current wildfires.

How many wildfires are burning in Canada?

More than 130 wildfires are currently burning across the country, according to a tally by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).

Of those, 40 were considered out of control on Wednesday morning.

So far this year, Canada has experienced more than 1,000 wildfires that have burned approximately 336,000 hectares (830,000 acres) of land, the CIFFC found.

Where are the fires currently burning?

Most of the blazes are in British Columbia and Alberta, the CIFFC says on its website.

Others also have broken out in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, among other parts of the country.

Where have evacuation orders been issued?

About 3,500 people were evacuated from Fort Nelson and Fort Nelson First Nation, in northeastern British Columbia, due to the Parker Lake wildfire. By Tuesday, the blaze had grown to more than 8,400 hectares (20,700 acres).

On Tuesday afternoon, authorities in Alberta also issued evacuation orders for the Abasand, Beacon Hill, Prairie Creek and Grayling Terrace areas of Fort McMurray.

The town itself, which was engulfed by a devastating wildfire in 2016, is currently under an “evacuation alert”, which means residents should be ready to leave if an evacuation order is issued.

The Alberta Wildfire agency said on Wednesday morning that favourable winds were expected to push the fire away from Fort McMurray while crews continue to work to contain the blaze.

Meanwhile, people have also been evacuated in parts of northern Manitoba, in central Canada. An out-of-control wildfire near the small towns of Flin Flon and The Pas – near the province’s border with Saskatchewan – has grown to 31,600 hectares (78,000 acres).

What is causing the wildfires?

Generally, wildfires in Canada are caused either by lightning strikes or human behaviour.

Some of the blazes currently burning in the country are what are known as “holdover fires”. The term refers to fires that continue to burn under snow during the winter and are reignited when the temperature warms in the spring.

Authorities have said drought conditions and high winds are propelling the wildfires.

Ben Boghean, a fire behaviour specialist with the BC Wildfire Service, said the northeastern region of British Columbia “has experienced multiple years of drought, with a below-normal snowpack this past winter”.

“As a result of this, our forest in the Fort Nelson zone are very receptive to new fire ignitions and rapid rates of spread,” he said, explaining that the Parker Lake wildfire ignited amid strong winds and grew eight kilometres (five miles) in four hours after it was first detected.

“This rapid growth highlighted how dry and volatile forest fuels are up here,” Boghean said.

Is the climate crisis playing a role?

Experts say higher temperatures have extended the Canadian wildfire season, which typically runs from late April until September or October, and increased lightning – a major cause of the blazes.

Mike Flannigan, research chair for predictive services, emergency management and fire science at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told Al Jazeera last year that a warmer atmosphere also dries out fire fuels, such as the vegetation on forest floors.

These drier fuels then make it easier for fires to start and spread, and they lead to higher intensity fires that “are difficult to impossible to extinguish”, Flannigan said.

Ongoing drought and warmer temperatures in Canada have fueled wildfires in British Columbia. The #ParkerLakeWildfire has consumed more than 13,000 acres and triggered evacuations in #FortNelson. Check out images from Canada’s 2023 #WildfireSeason here: https://t.co/F79iU4jVY3 pic.twitter.com/kxpiiaW7CE

— USGS Landsat (@USGSLandsat) May 14, 2024

What other effects are the wildfires having?

Air-quality alerts have been issued in several Canadian provinces, as well as in the United States.

Over the past week, alerts were issued for parts of Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota due to Canadian wildfire smoke, US media reported.

The record Canadian wildfire season in 2023 also set massive plumes of smoke south of the border to the US.

“The pressing question on many people’s minds: ‘Is this the new normal?’” three professors at the University of Iowa wrote in The Conversation this week. “From our perspective as air quality scientists, we think the answer is likely ‘yes’.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA – World Opinions

L’article Canada wildfires spur evacuation orders, warnings: What you need to know.. Video est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Leading presidents and prime ministers from around the world are meeting for the annual G20 leaders’ summit in India’s capital, Delhi, from 9-10 September.

Narendra Modi is an authoritarian figure who, as India’s prime minister since 2014, has pushed his country into increasingly becoming a “de facto ethnic democracy”, in which Hindus define the national identity and non-Hindus are seen as second-class citizens. Yet as the host of the upcoming talks of the world’s 20 largest economies, Mr Modi will be feted by major global leaders – except his absent fellow strongmen Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

Mr Modi’s dangerous majoritarianism is too easily overlooked by the west, as the G20 glad-handing will show. India had been considered an exemplary liberal parliamentary democracy among developing countries. This is being slowly dismantled by Mr Modi’s brand of Hindu nationalism. State intimidation has seen civil society harassed and critics jailed. A report by a group of prominent lawyers last year warned that “the administration of law has become the means by which … the Muslim community can be kept in a state of perpetual fear”. Since May, the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur has been burning, with its valley Hindus and highland Christians sinking into bloody fighting. Mr Modi’s party blames non-Hindus for the violence.

The Indian prime minister shares the ideological viewpoint of Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen in France and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. Mr Modi claims India suffered 1,000 years of servitude: 750 years of Muslim rule, plus 250 years of British rule. Pulling down, or discarding, symbols of that history – mosques, mausoleums, Lutyens’ Delhi buildings – is excused, in this thinking, because this represents a national, Hindu resurgence. Mr Modi tellingly speaks of 1,000 years of rule to come.

The west thinks that it must keep stumm because it needs India to contain China. But at what cost to democracy and human rights? Mukul Kesavan, an Indian historian, wrote earlier this year that when the White House rolled out the red carpet for Mr Modi, “One of the more entertaining things about [his] visit has been the sight of [Joe] Biden welcoming a foreign leader who had openly campaigned for his predecessor and liberal bête noire, Donald Trump.”

Last year, Gothenburg University’s annual report on the state of global democracy warned of a wave of “autocratization” spreading around the world. Since 2020, the report said, India has not been a working democracy but an “electoral autocracy” similar to that in Russia. All is not lost. India’s next general election will provide a chance for the public to have its say – though how much remains to be seen, given that a peer-reviewed paper suggested that in 2019 Mr Modi won around 11 seats by suppressing the Muslim vote. Its author, a respected economist, quit after his university failed to back him. The arrival of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, otherwise known as INDIA, has also unsettled Mr Modi. Perhaps peeved at being opposed by “INDIA”, Mr Modi wants to respond only to the country’s Sanskrit name “Bharat”.

India’s prime minister says the G20 should let the global south shape the world’s future. As Human Rights Watch pointed out this week, “many proposed summit topics – debt crises, social protection programs, food security, climate change, internet freedom – are at their root about human rights”. Britain has its own share of democratic backsliding. But if Mr Modi desires successful outcomes then he, like all autocratic leaders, should understand why his actions at home undermine the arguments he wants to promote abroad.

Western democracies are wrong to overlook a country’s descent into electoral autocracy because they believe they need it to contain China

What is the G20?

The G20 – or Group of Twenty – is a club of countries which meets to discuss plans for the global economy.

Between them, G20 countries account for 85% of the world’s economic output and 75% of world trade. They contain two-thirds of the global population.

The members are the European Union and 19 nations – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. Spain is always invited as a guest.

A smaller group of G20 member countries meets as the G7.

Some of the G20 member nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – have formed a separate group called Brics.

This is due to expand, having invited six other nations to join at its recent summit: Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

What does the group discuss?

The issues discussed by G20 leaders have broadened in recent years from just economics to include issues such as climate change, sustainable energy, international-debt forgiveness and taxing multinational corporations.

Every year, a different G20 member state takes over the presidency and sets the agenda for meetings.

Indonesia held the presidency in 2022, and the leaders’ summit was held in Bali.

As 2023 president, India wants the Delhi event to concentrate on sustainable development, as well as measures to spread economic growth more evenly between developed and developing countries.

The summit also provides an opportunity for one-to-one discussions to take place alongside group sessions.

The White House says that US President Joe Biden will talk to individual leaders about tackling climate change, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and getting global organisations such as the World Bank to do more to fight poverty.

However, the Kremlin says Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the summit, and it’s been widely reported that China’s President Xi Jinping will also stay away.

Are there any controversial issues for G20 countries?

Russia’s war in Ukraine is likely to cause discord at the Delhi summit.

In March 2022, the G20 foreign ministers were unable to reach agreements at their meeting because of fierce arguments over the war between the US and Russia delegations.

At the Bali leaders’ summit in November 2022, discussions were dominated by a crisis involving missiles from the war falling on Poland’s side of the border with Ukraine.

In May, China and Saudi Arabia boycotted a G20 meeting on tourism which was held in Indian-administered Kashmir because the Kashmir region contains territory claimed by Pakistan as well as India.

A row has also broken out between India and China over a long-running border dispute, after Beijing released a map which claims the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin plateau as Chinese territory.

What does the summit mean for India?

India has been positioning itself as a leading voice of developing countries known as the Global South in recent years and G20 is seen as its chance to deliver on these promises on a bigger stage.

The summit also comes ahead of the 2024 general elections in India and could bolster Mr Modi’s image as a leader who commands respect on the global stage.

The government has held hundreds of meeting across some 50 cities in the run-up to the summit in Delhi.

For months, cities and towns have been dotted with shiny billboards featuring the G20 logo and Mr Modi’s photos, framing the event as the prime minister’s earnest attempt to bring the world to India.

Mr Modi also appears to share a personal rapport with many of his G20 counterparts, including President Biden who accorded him a coveted state visit in June.

That said, the summit is not expected to be a breeze for India, given the current complex geopolitical situation.

Many economies are still struggling to recover from the pandemic and have grown increasingly anxious about the war and its economic impact, with global surges in food and energy prices.

Why is there a ‘family photo’?

At the end of key summits, the heads of government often pose for a group photograph, known as the “family photo”.

However, the diplomatic discord revealed by the image sometimes makes headlines in its own right.

In 2018, following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was largely ignored, and made to stand at the far end of the group.

What has the G20 achieved?

At the 2008 and 2009 leaders’ summits, during the financial crisis, leaders agreed a host of measures to rescue the global economic system.

But some critics argue that subsequent summits have been less successful, often as a result of tensions between rival world powers.

However, bilateral meetings at the summit have often proved constructive.

In 2019, at Osaka, then-US president Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume talks to settle a major trade dispute.

Do G20 summits attract protests?

Big demonstrations often take place around the leaders’ summits.

Anti-capitalist protesters demonstrated at the 2010 summit in Toronto and the 2017 summit in Hamburg.

Thousands of demonstrators marched during the 2018 summit in Rio de Janeiro to protest against the G20’s economic policies.

In 2009 Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper seller, died after he was caught up in protests during the G20 summit in London.

World Opinions +The Guarasidian + BBC NEWS + Agencies

L’article View on India’s G20 summit: a backsliding democracy gets to play host est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.