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Asked about the effort to impeach Joe Biden, the Democratic caucus chair, Pete Aguilar, accused the GOP of doing Donald Trump’s bidding.
From the House Democrats’ press conference earlier today:
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While Super Pac AFP Action’s endorsement of Nikki Haley may represent a boost to her presidential campaign, all signs point to the former United Nations ambassador facing a steep hill to climb to catch up to Donald Trump’s lead among Republican voters.
Polls consistently show him as the far-and-away favorite for the GOP’s nomination, with Haley and Florida governor Ron DeSantis vying for a distant second place. Nonetheless, Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for Trump-supporting Super Pac Make America Great Again Inc, released a statement slamming AFP Action’s endorsement:
The Ron DeSantis campaign finally got it right when they bitterly attacked Americans for Prosperity for being a vessel of globalist shills. That’s exactly why AFP backed Ron Desantis in his 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial races.
Everything old is new again. The Republican primary is split between career politicians who are tools of the billionaire class and the one man who delivers for the American people. Americans for Prosperity has already lit millions of dollars on fire this primary only to watch President Donald Trump’s lead grow. No amount of money can break the bond President Trump has with voters. He kept his promises.
Continue reading...Activists including Cynthia Nixon say they are launching five-day fast ‘to showcase the actions of President Biden’
Leftwing activists including the actor Cynthia Nixon, famous for her role in Sex and the City, have begun a hunger strike outside the White House aimed at pressing Joe Biden into demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
The five-day fast was launched to coincide with what had been the scheduled end of a four-day truce in Israel’s military offensive into the Palestinian coastal territory, during which the Palestinian group Hamas released dozens of hostages. Israel has also released several batches of Palestinian prisoners, most of them women and minors. The truce was later extended by a further two days following mediation from Egypt and Qatar.
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Police in Vermont on Sunday announced the arrest of a suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian students, the Guardian’s Chris Michael reports. Here’s the latest on the story:
A suspect was arrested on Sunday in the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont the night before, police said, adding that contrary to media reports the shooter did not speak before firing.
Continue reading...US president is balancing the demands of a Middle East war and a presidential campaign expected to heat up in January
US President Joe Biden will not attend a gathering of world leaders focused on climate change in Dubai this week, a US official said on Sunday.
The announcement comes after the New York Times reported that Biden would not attend.
Continue reading...Abortion rights groups in Missouri and Nebraska are proposing measures to expand rights; 2022 clip surfaces of Mike Johnson saying allowing people to receive abortions is ‘causing an American Holocaust’
Democrats in Virginia this week proposed amending the state constitution to enshrine abortion rights.
The proposal follow Democrats’ win in the state earlier this month in which they gained control of the state legislature, signifying a blow to Republicans’ plans that included curtailing abortion access.
“Throughout the campaign cycle we told Virginians that a Democratic majority meant that abortion access would be protected in the Commonwealth.
Today, that reigns true. Our resolution will begin the process of amending our constitution to protect reproductive rights in Virginia, building on the work that I and congresswoman Jennifer McClellan started many years ago.
Continue reading...Stein is latest in a series of mostly leftist figures to announce candidacies with the potential to erode Biden’s core support
A new front opened in the growing threats to Joe Biden’s presidency on Tuesday when the left-wing environmentalist Jill Stein formally launched her third presidential bid in an online conversation with two fellow progressive activists.
Stein, 73, who is bidding to become the US Green party’s nominee, is the latest in a series of mostly leftist figures to announce candidacies with the potential to erode Biden’s core support in an expected re-match against Donald Trump in next year’s poll.
Continue reading...Trump’s attorneys say the gag order impede on ‘core political speech’ while Justice department prosecutors say its’s crucial for a fair trial
Politicians are posting tributes to Carter, with many remembering the former first lady for her public service.
From US representative Cori Bush:
Continue reading...Voters concerned that Biden, who turns 81 on Monday, is too old for second term while Trump, 77, makes headway among key groups
As he turned 81 on Monday, Joe Biden was presented with unwelcome gifts: more polling showing him struggling against Donald Trump, his likely opponent next year who is just three and a half years younger but whom many fewer Americans think is too old to be president.
In its US Election Watch Report for November, the Morning Consult polling organisation said Trump is gaining ground among key voter segments including Black, Hispanic and young Americans. “Throughout 2023, Trump has made up ground with Joe Biden in our head-to-head tracking by improving his margins” among such groups, also including independents, it said.
Continue reading...Defence ministry detects nine Chinese aircraft crossing Taiwan Strait’s median line after tensions were a focus of Biden-Xi talks at Apec summit
Taiwan has reported renewed Chinese military activity including nine aircraft crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait and warships carrying out “combat readiness patrols”.
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past four years of regular Chinese military patrols and drills near the island, as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei over its sovereignty claims.
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‘A ceasefire is where we need to get to,’ Zoe Daniel says
Asked by RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas if she supports calls for a ceasefire, Zoe Daniel says:
If you call for a ceasefire, you’re letting down the Jewish community, if you don’t you’re allowing death and destruction to happen in Gaza.
At the end of the day, if I say to you right now, yes, I support ceasefire, that will make zero difference to what is happening in in Gaza.
I’m a former foreign correspondent. I know the logistics of this, of course, a ceasefire is where we need to get to, but you have a terrorist organisation in the middle of this. If there’s just a ceasefire, and there’s no capacity there to try to dismantle Hamas, does that allow Hamas to regroup? What does that actually lead to? That said, I’ve said to you before, very clearly, and I still stick to the position that the Israeli government has to adhere to international law and the rules of war, and I think, in some ways, has not been.
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Another video posted online appeared to show Capitol police officers rolling their bikes over candles that were laid out to mourn the 11,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes.
In a caption accompanying the video, Jewish Voice for Peace Action said:
“Last night, in DC Jews and allies carried out a vigil and a nonviolent, moral act of civil disobedience to call on Democrats to support a ceasefire to save Palestinian and Israeli lives. Within moments, police brutally assaulted peaceful protestors, injuring over 90.”
“Every hour of this horrific bombardment, more Palestinians are killed. Every hour, the lives of the hostages hang in the balance. Every hour increases the risk of a broader regional war, endangering the lives of millions of people across the entire region.
We the base of the Democratic party are here to say if you care about Palestinians, if you care about Israelis, if you care about Jews, if you care about humanity, we need you to call for a ceasefire, a hostage exchange, a deescalation, and to chart a path toward freedom and safety for all. Instead of heeding our call for a ceasefire, police violently attacked nonviolent protesters with pepper spray.”
Continue reading...Josep Borrell says ‘one horror does not justify another’ and calls for unconditional release of hostages
The EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, has urged Israel not to be “consumed by rage” in its response to the Hamas attacks of 7 October as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, acknowledged splits in Europe on the conflict.
Speaking from Kibbutz Be’eri – where at least 85 of the 1,200 people killed that day died and from where about 30 of the more than 240 were kidnapped – Borrell said “Israel must be defended”, but, “one horror does not justify another: innocent civilians, including thousands of children, have died in recent weeks.
Continue reading...Western officials continue to ask searching questions about future strategy as diplomatic pressure mounts
• US wasn’t always Israel’s strongest ally – what changed and why?
On the surface, Joe Biden gave Israel a clear green light to continue its military campaign in Gaza on Wednesday night, and endorsed its claim that Hamas has been using the al-Shifa hospital as a command and control headquarters.
His remarks in San Francisco after a meeting with Xi Jinping will delight Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
Continue reading...Foreign ministry says US and China have ‘most important bilateral relationship in the world’ after leaders’ talks
China has praised the “warm” meeting between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in California, in a marked shift of rhetoric after months of negotiations aimed at restabilising what has been a testy relationship.
A readout from China’s foreign ministry said the US-China relationship was “the most important bilateral relationship in the world” and that “a stable and growing China is good for the United States and the whole world”.
Continue reading...Chinese president signalled that the pandas would be sent after his first face-to-face meeting with Joe Biden in 12 months
Chinese president Xi Jinping signalled on Wednesday evening that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples”.
“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said during a dinner speech with business leaders.
Continue reading...Account of the summit from China’s foreign ministry was mixed, portraying Xi as having taken a tough line, telling Biden to stop arming Taiwan
Joe Biden has claimed that his summit meeting with Xi Jinping has brought substantial progress, including agreements on limiting narcotics trafficking, restoring militaries lines of communication, and to start talking about the global risks posed by artificial intelligence.
However, it was clear that after more than four hours of talks in a mansion outside San Francisco, the meeting had not brought the US and China any closer on the fate of Taiwan, which Xi reportedly told Biden was “the biggest, most potentially dangerous issue in US-China relations”.
Continue reading...US president says Hamas has said it will not stop attacking Israel and said Israeli forces had switched from aerial bombardment to more targeted operations
Joe Biden has presented an unapologetic defence of his refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, arguing that Hamas presented a continuing threat to Israel and that Israeli forces were seeking to avoid civilian casualties.
After a summit meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Apec summit in San Francisco, Biden told reporters on Wednesday night that Hamas had pledged to continue its attacks on Israel.
Continue reading...US and Chinese presidents meet in San Francisco to discuss the economy, climate, military relations and Taiwan
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in California on Wednesday, exchanging handshakes and smiles as they embarked on face-to-face dialogues that both sides hope will stabilise US-China relations.
The US president opened his remarks by saying that tensions between the two countries should “not veer into conflict”.
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Despite the US and China’s joint climate plan being welcomed by experts, the plan lacks specific emission reductions or a commitment to phase out fossil fuels.
The Guardian’s Oliver Milman reports:
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