California schools hold graduation ceremonies without disruption over Gaza war
California schools hold graduation ceremonies without disruption over Gaza war/node/2530831/world
California schools hold graduation ceremonies without disruption over Gaza war
UCLA graduates from the class of 2024 pose for a photo prior to their commencement ceremony at Pauley Pavilion, Friday, June 14, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP)
California schools hold graduation ceremonies without disruption over Gaza war
Updated 15 June 2024
Reuters
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and other institutions in the state conducted graduation ceremonies on Friday without the disruption of protests over Israel’s war on Gaza, with proceedings largely undisturbed.
The United States, Israel’s key ally, has seen months of pro-Palestinian protests ranging from marches in Washington and vigils near the White House to the blocking of bridges and roads near train stations and airports in multiple cities, along with encampments on many college campuses.
UCLA commencement ceremonies were “poignant and simply beautiful,” the school said. UCLA’s commencement celebrations had over 60 events scheduled from Friday to Sunday.
The Los Angeles Times reported a number of graduates wore keffiyeh scarves, which have become a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians, at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. The newspaper also said dozens of graduates peacefully walked out of the Luskin ceremony but overall a festive atmosphere prevailed throughout for tens of thousands of graduates and visitors.
Commencement ceremonies were also scheduled at UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis and UC Irvine.
University protests in recent months have seen occasional violence while police have made arrests on campuses to clear encampments. Pro-Palestinian activists encamped at UCLA were violently attacked by a mob weeks ago.
Student protesters have demanded an end to the war, a halt to US support for Israel and divestment by their schools from companies with ties to Israel.
More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s eight-month-old assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war has also displaced nearly the entire 2.3 million population in Gaza, caused widespread hunger there and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 , killing 1,200 people and abducting some 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.
Trump campaigns in Western states as Harris focuses on critical Pennsylvania
Trump is scheduled to hold what’s being billed as a news conference in the morning at his Los Angeles-area golf club
Updated 9 sec ago
AP
LOS ANGELES: Former President Donald Trump will campaign Friday in Western states as his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris keeps her focus on one of the biggest battleground prizes in the East, Pennsylvania. Trump is scheduled to hold what’s being billed as a news conference in the morning at his Los Angeles-area golf club before heading to northern California for a fundraiser, followed by a rally in Las Vegas, the largest city in swing state Nevada. Harris, meanwhile, heads to Johnstown and Wilkes-Barre on Friday as she tries to capitalize on her momentum after Tuesday night’s debate. It’s her second day of back-to-back rallies after holding two events in North Carolina, another swing state, on Thursday. While speaking in Charlotte, Harris took a victory lap for her debate performance in which she needled Trump and kept him on the defensive. Recounting one moment while campaigning in North Carolina, she mocked Trump for saying he had “concepts of a plan” for replacing the Affordable Care Act. “Concepts. Concepts. No actual plan. Concepts,” she said as the crowd roared with laughter. Her campaign said she raised $47 million from 600,000 donors in the 24 hours after her debate with Trump. Harris said the candidates “owe it to voters to have another debate.” But Trump said he won’t agree to face off with her again. Trump’s morning event will mark the second Friday in a row that the Republican has scheduled a news conference, though at his last appearance in New York, the former president didn’t take any questions. Instead, the Republican for nearly an hour railed against women who have accused him of sexual misconduct over the years, resurrecting the allegations in the public eye days before his debate with Harris. It’s unclear whether Trump plans to speak about any subject in particular at Friday’s news conference, but his campaign has added more to his schedule since early August as he tries to contrast himself with Harris. She has not held a news conference since becoming a presidential candidate and the Democrat has only sat for one in-depth interview. Her campaign has said she will start doing more interviews with local media outlets concentrated in battleground states. After appearing at his golf club in upscale Rancho Palos Verdes, Trump will head to a fundraiser in the afternoon in the Bay Area town of Woodside that is being hosted by billionaire software developer Tom Siebel and his wife, Stacey Siebel. Tom Siebel is the second cousin once removed of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and surrogate for Harris. Attendees will pay at least $3,300 per person or raise $10,000 for the campaign, according to an invitation. Top-tier donors will get a photo, reception and roundtable, paying $500,000 for a couple to be on the host committee or $150,000 per person to be a co-host. It’s Trump’s second fundraising stop in California in as many days as he tries to make up fundraising ground against Harris. Even before she raked in cash after the debate, the vice president reported raising $361 million in August from nearly 3 million donors, her first full month as a candidate after replacing President Joe Biden. Trump brought in $130 million over the same period. Harris’ campaign reported that it started September with $109 million more on hand than Trump’s did. On Friday night, he heads to Las Vegas, where he’ll have a rally in the city’s downtown area. Trump was in the city last month for a brief stop to promote his proposal to end federal taxes on workers’ tips, something that’s expected to especially resonate in the tourist city, where much of the service-based economy includes workers who rely on tips. He announced a new proposal Thursday to end taxes on overtime pay. The swing state is one that Trump narrowly lost in 2016 and 2020 and is among about half a dozen that both campaigns are heavily focused on. The Republican presidential ticket has visited Clark County, Nevada, four times since June. Trump has held campaign events in Las Vegas three times, while his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, held a rally in suburban Henderson in July. The Democratic ticket also has visited four times, although two of those campaign events were by President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, had a joint rally in Las Vegas last month, and Walz visited the city again Tuesday.
China defense minister calls for ‘negotiation’ to end Ukraine, Gaza wars
“Promoting peace and negotiation is the only way out,” Dong Jun tells global gathering of military officials in Beijing
“There is no winner in war and conflict, and confrontation leads nowhere,” he said
Updated 13 September 2024
AFP
BEIJING: Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said Friday that “negotiation” was the only solution to conflicts such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, as he addressed a global gathering of military officials in Beijing.
Scores of delegates are in Beijing for the Xiangshan Forum, dubbed China’s answer to the annual Shangri-La meeting in Singapore.
It is hosting more than 500 representatives from over 90 countries and organizations across three days, according to state media.
Dong told the opening ceremony: “To resolve hotspot issues such as the crisis in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promoting peace and negotiation is the only way out.”
“There is no winner in war and conflict, and confrontation leads nowhere,” Dong said.
“The more acute the conflict, the more we cannot give up dialogue and consultation. The end of any conflict is reconciliation,” he added, calling on all countries to promote “peaceful development and inclusive governance.”
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun and other military leaders attend the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on September 13, 2024. (REUTERS)
More official speeches are expected on Friday, and top military representatives from Russia, Pakistan, Singapore, Iran, Germany and others will participate in roundtable talks.
Topics for discussion at the forum include US-China relations, security in Europe and Asia, and the challenges of defense in a multipolar world.
Dong in his speech urged against “the proliferation of national security concepts” to ensure “new technologies can better benefit the whole mankind” — a likely reference to the United States’ efforts to block Beijing’s access to advanced technology.
“At a time of high global security risks and increased instability and unpredictability, the responsibility for building the defense and security capacity of all countries is enormous,” Dong said.
Beijing, he added, “is willing to work with all parties to strengthen strategic alignment, deepen defense consultations, discuss the signing of bilateral and multilateral agreements on defense cooperation.”
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Chase is attending the forum, just a few days after top Washington and Beijing commanders held their first talks.
Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of self-ruled Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions.
But they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control.
A key flashpoint is the South China Sea, where Chinese vessels have engaged in a series of high-profile confrontations with Philippine ships in recent months.
China claims almost all of the economically vital body of water despite competing claims from other countries and an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
On Thursday, senior military official Lt. Gen. He Lei told journalists at the forum that China would “crush” any foreign incursion into its sovereign territory including in the South China Sea.
Biden calls the landmark Violence Against Women Act his proudest legislative achievement
Says his goal was “to change the culture of America” by providing more protection and support for survivors and accountability for perpetrators
Biden made the remark on the 30th anniversary of the law which he championed as a senator amid a surge in domestic violence cases in the US
Updated 13 September 2024
AP
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said Thursday joined scores of advocates and survivors of domestic abuse to mark the 30th anniversary of the landmark Violence Against Women Act, a law he wrote and championed as a US senator because he wanted to “change the culture of America” around this touchy issue.
Biden said that back then “society often looked away” and that violence against women was not treated as a crime in many places. He said a national hotline was not available to those suffering abuse and few police departments with what are known now as special victim units.
“My goal was to do more than change the law,” he said at a White House event marking Friday’s 30th anniversary of the law. He said his goal was “to change the culture of America” by providing more protection and support for survivors and accountability for perpetrators.
“I believed the only way we could change the culture was by shining a light on that culture, and speaking its name,” he said.
Biden wrote and championed the legislation as a US senator. It was the first comprehensive federal law that addressed violence against women and sought to provide support for survivors and justice. It sought to shift the national narrative around domestic violence at the time; that it was a private matter best left alone.
The White House said that between 1993 and 2022, annual rates of domestic violence dropped by 67 percent and the rate of rapes and sexual assaults declined by 56 percent, according to FBI statistics. A national domestic violence hotline has fielded more than 7 million calls since 1996, Biden said.
“It matters. It saves lives,” he said Thursday.
US President Joe Biden walks off stage after speaking ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act at the White House in Washington on Sept. 12, 2024. (AFP)
During a hearing on domestic violence in 1990, Biden told the committee that “for too long, we have ignored the right of women to be free from the fear of attack based on their gender. For too long, we have kept silent about the obvious.”
He spent years advocating for the law, moved by horrible stories of domestic violence. Congress passed it in 1994 with bipartisan support. Then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law on Sept. 13, 1994.
“The Violence Against Women Act is my proudest legislative achievement,” Biden said at the event on the White House lawn. It was attended by hundreds of people, including survivors of domestic violence, advocates, administration officials and members of Congress.
The president also spoke about continued efforts to strengthen the law, including announcing that the Justice Department was awarding more than $690 million in grants, along with efforts to serve orders of protection electronically and strategies to address online gender-based violence, a growing problem that law enforcement struggles to combat.
US President Joe Biden poses for a selfie during an event marking the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, at the White House in Washington on Sept. 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Federal agencies also sent reminders on housing rights for survivors of domestic violence who live in federally funded homes, including that they can request emergency housing transfers.
“Today, officers, prosecutors, judges, families, and society at large understand what should have always been clear: these crimes cannot be cast aside as somehow distinct or private,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “Instead, we recognize that they are among the most serious crimes that our society faces and that we must continue to improve access to justice, safety, and services for survivors.”
Jen Klein, the White House gender policy adviser, said the measures are meant to keep pushing efforts to help survivors of domestic violence.
“While we have made tremendous progress since VAWA was signed into law in 1994, we also know that much work remains in the fight to prevent and end gender-based violence,” she said.
The law was reaffirmed in 2022, but it almost didn’t happen. The sticking point was a provision in the last proposal, passed by the House in April 2019, that would have prohibited persons previously convicted of misdemeanor stalking from possessing firearms.
Under current federal law, those convicted of domestic abuse can lose their guns if they are currently or formerly married to their victim, live with the victim, have a child together or are a victim’s parent or guardian. But the law doesn’t apply to stalkers and current or former dating partners. Advocates have long referred to it as the “boyfriend loophole.”
Expanding the restrictions drew fierce opposition from the National Rifle Association and Republicans in Congress, creating an impasse. Democrats backed down and did not include the provision.
That provision was later addressed in Biden’s bipartisan gun safety legislation signed by Congress in 2022, and now prohibits people convicted of misdemeanor crimes in dating relationships from purchasing or possessing firearms for at least five years.
US judge dismisses three counts in Trump election case in Georgia state
Updated 13 September 2024
AP
WASHINGTON: A Georgia judge on Thursday dismissed three of the counts in the indictment accusing former US president Donald Trump and co-defendants of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the southern state.
Two of the three charges thrown out by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee involved Trump, and he now faces a total of eight felony counts in Georgia.
McAfee declined, however, to quash the entire indictment, which accuses the Republican presidential candidate and his allies of racketeering and other offenses.
The three dismissed charges involved the filing of fake elector certificates with a federal court stating that Trump had won the election in Georgia, although he lost to Democrat Joe Biden by some 12,000 votes.
McAfee said that under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, state prosecutors cannot bring a case for federal crimes.
“The Supremacy Clause declares that state law must yield to federal law when the two conflict,” the judge said in his order.
Trump had been charged with filing false documents and conspiring to file false documents.
The Georgia case has been frozen by an appeals court until it hears a bid by Trump and his co-defendants to disqualify Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who brought the charges.
In March, McAfee rejected an attempt to disqualify Willis following revelations she had a romantic relationship with the man she hired as a special prosecutor.
Trump and his co-defendants appealed the ruling, and the Georgia Court of Appeals is to hear arguments in December.
Because the case is paused, the two counts against Trump of filing false documents will not technically be dropped until after the appeals court rules.
Evidence in the case includes a taped phone call in which Trump asked a top Georgia election official to “find” enough votes to reverse the result.
Eighteen co-defendants were indicted in Georgia along with Trump on racketeering and other charges, including his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Four of Trump’s original co-defendants, including three former campaign lawyers, have pleaded guilty to lesser charges in deals that spared them prison time.
Trump was convicted in a separate criminal case in New York in May of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star who alleged they had a sexual encounter.
Trump is also facing federal charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results, but no date has been set for a trial.
Father of Ohio boy asks Trump not to invoke his son’s death in immigration debate
“This needs to stop now,” Nathan Clark said, referring to the repeated use of his son's death by Donald Trump in his campaign rhetoric against rival Kamala Harris
11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed on his way to school in an accident by a Haitian migrant driver. Trump blames the Biden government for letting illegal migrants in
Updated 13 September 2024
AP
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio: The father of an Ohio boy killed last year when a Haitian immigrant driver hit a school bus is imploring Donald Trump and other politicians to stop invoking his son’s name in the debate about immigration.
Nathan Clark spoke Tuesday at a Springfield City Council hearing — the same day that the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris debated, and the city in Ohio exploded into the national conversation when Trump repeated false claims demonizing Haitian immigrants there, saying they eat pets.
“This needs to stop now,” Nathan Clark said. “They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio. I will listen to them one more time to hear their apologies.”
Eleven-year-old Aiden Clark was killed in August last year when a minivan driven by Hermanio Joseph veered into a school bus carrying Aiden and other students. Aiden died and nearly two dozen others were hurt.
In May, a Clark County jury deliberated for just an hour before convicting Joseph of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide. He was sentenced to between nine and 13 1/2 years in prison. A motion to stay his sentence pending an appeal was denied in July.
Trump’s campaign and others, including his running mate, JD Vance, have cited Aiden’s death in online posts. On Monday, the Trump campaign posted “REMEMBER: 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed on his way to school by a Haitian migrant that Kamala Harris let into the country in Springfield, Ohio.” On Tuesday, Vance posted: “Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here.”
Clark’s death got wrapped up in a swirl of false rumors on Monday about Haitian immigrants eating pets. Then Tuesday, Trump repeated the statements, which local officials and police have said are not supported by evidence.
Clark declined to comment further on Thursday. A message seeking a response to Clark’s statement was left with representatives of Trump.
Vance’s spokesperson said in a statement that Harris owed an apology over her border policies and added that the Clark family was in Vance’s prayers.
Clark also mentioned Republican senate candidate Bernie Moreno in his speech. Moreno campaign spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said it was Harris and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown who should apologize and criticized their handling of the border.
Four government buildings and two schools were evacuated in the city Thursday after a bomb threat was emailed to multiple city agencies and media outlets, Springfield police chief Allison Elliott said. City officials said the buildings included Springfield City Hall, a local office of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a licensing bureau and a driver’s exam station. The city is working with the FBI to determine the source of the threat. Officials didn’t specify whether the threats had to do with the discussions about immigration.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday condemned the conspiracies regarding Haitians as “hate speech.” She deferred to the local police department regarding any threats to the Springfield community, but she described the situation as “an attempt to tear apart communities” and an “insult to all of us as Americans.”
Pastors from Springfield churches gathered Thursday to address the effects of the false rumors.
Vile Dorsainvil, the executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, attended the event and said it was necessary to bring peace to the community.
People have to understand each other, he said.
Many Haitians have come to the US to flee poverty and violence. They have embraced President Joe Biden’s new and expanded legal pathways to enter, and they have shunned illegal crossings, accounting for only 92 border arrests out of more than 56,000 in July, according to the latest data available.
The Biden administration recently announced an estimated 300,000 Haitians could remain in the country at least through February 2026, with eligibility for work authorization, under a law called Temporary Protected Status. The goal is to spare people from being deported to countries in turmoil.
On Tuesday, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said he would send law enforcement and millions of dollars in health care resources to the city of Springfield, which has faced a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. DeWine said some 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020 under the Temporary Protected Status program, and he urged the federal government to do more to help affected communities.
Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also drew attention to the crisis on Monday when he directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending “an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities.”
