Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election

Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election
Britain’s Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak, and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer attend a live TV debate, hosted by The BBC, in Nottingham, on June 26, 2024, in the build-up to the UK general election on July 4. (AFP)
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Updated 27 June 2024
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Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election

Sunak, Starmer clash in final TV debate before election

LONDON: The two men bidding to be British prime minister faced off late on Wednesday in a bad-tempered, last head-to-head TV debate before the country’s general election next week.

With Keir Starmer’s Labour opposition enjoying a huge poll lead, the verbal tussle in Nottingham, central England, was premier Rishi Sunak’s last big opportunity to give his Conservatives a fighting chance on July 4.

The debate turned personal at times with Sunak accusing Starmer of “taking people for fools” over Labour’s plans to reduce immigration, while Starmer accused the wealthy Sunak of being “out of touch.”

Sunak repeatedly urged voters not to “surrender” to Labour on everything from borders to taxes, while Starmer repeated his mantra that the election represents an opportunity to “turn the page” after 14 years of Tory rule.

The two also locked horns about a betting scandal that has ensnared several senior Tories and a Labour candidate, and overshadowed talk about key policies in the campaign’s final days.

Starmer pledged to “reset politics, so that politics returns to public service,” accusing Sunak of showing a lack of leadership over the furor.

Sunak, who promised to restore “integrity, professionalism and accountability” when he was named Tory leader and prime minister in 2022, said he had been “furious” when he learned about the allegations.

“I’ve been crystal clear: anyone who has broken the rules should not only face the full consequences of the law, I will ensure that they’re booted out of the Conservative Party,” he added.

But in a sign of the public’s low opinion of politicians, one audience member’s question — “are you two really the best we’ve got?” — got loud applause.

Labour has been more than 20 points ahead in surveys for over 18 months, as Britons appear weary of Tory rule dominated by austerity, Brexit and party infighting.

Sunak has failed to reduce the deficit since he called the election on May 22, six months earlier than legally required.

His rain-sodden announcement outside Downing Street was an ominous portent of what was to come.

The Tory leader has since run a lacklustre campaign featuring blunders, and caused uproar for skipping the main D-Day anniversary with other world leaders in northern France.

He has been criticized for belatedly taking action over the betting row, which this week saw the Conservatives withdraw support from two candidates being probed by the Gambling Commission regulator for allegedly betting on the election date.

One, Craig Williams, who served as Sunak’s close aide during the last parliament, is alleged to have staked £100 ($127) three days before Sunak called the vote.

The other, Laura Saunders, is married to the Tories’ director of campaigns, who took a leave of absence when the claims became public.

The party’s chief data officer also stepped back from duties over allegations he placed dozens of bets on the election date.

Separately, Labour suspended a candidate after he bet on himself losing the election, while five police officers are also being investigated.

The regulator is thought to be looking into whether anyone had privileged information when they placed their bets.

Such flutters are allowed in the UK but using insider knowledge to make them is against the law.

The tawdry row has summed up an underwhelming campaign that has failed to galvanize the public, with polls suggesting a good chunk of the electorate made up their minds months ago.

Labour’s poll lead increased hugely in October 2022, when Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss spooked markets and tanked the pound with billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts.

Voters were already showing signs of becoming fed up with the Tories following the “Partygate” scandal over illegal Downing Street Covid lockdown parties, which precipitated ex-premier Boris Johnson’s fall from power.

Sunak has made a number of headline-grabbing announcements during the campaign, such as national service for teenagers, but they have failed to move the polls.

Arch-Euroskeptic Nigel Farage’s decision to run for the hard-right Reform UK party has also made his job more difficult.

Starmer, in contrast, has played it safe as he tries to preserve Labour’s lead and return the party to power for the first time since 2010.

He has stopped short of announcing new policies, instead trying to reassure voters that Labour will responsibly marshal the economy and repeating his mantra that Britain is crying out for “change.”

Despite the poll lead, Labour still requires a record swing to win a majority of one, owing to the Conservatives’ landslide win under Johnson at the 2019 election.


US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says

US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says
Updated 07 November 2024
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US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says

US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says
  • “The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena;,” Austin wrote

WASHINGTON: US Défense Secretary Lloyd Austin told troops that the Pentagon was committed to an orderly transition to the incoming administration of Donald Trump, adding that the military would not get involved in politics and was ready to carry out “all lawful orders.”
“The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena; to stand guard over our republic with principle and professionalism; and to stand together with the valued allies and partners who deepen our security,” Austin wrote in a memo to troops that was sent out on Wednesday night.


Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China

Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China
Updated 07 November 2024
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Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China

Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China
  • The suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt
  • His home was being searched

BERLIN: Germany’s federal prosecutor office said it arrested an American citizen on Thursday who allegedly spied for China.
The office said that the suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt and that his home was being searched.
The accused, who until recently worked for the US Armed Forces in Germany, is strongly suspected of having agreed to act as an intelligence agent for a foreign secret service.
Earlier this year, he contacted Chinese government agencies and offered to transmit sensitive information from the US military to a Chinese intelligence service, according to an investigation by Germany’s domestic intelligence service.
He had obtained the information in question in the course of his work in the US army, the prosecutor’s statement said, without giving any further information.


Offering Putin Ukraine concessions ‘suicidal’ for Europe: Zelensky

Offering Putin Ukraine concessions ‘suicidal’ for Europe: Zelensky
Updated 07 November 2024
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Offering Putin Ukraine concessions ‘suicidal’ for Europe: Zelensky

Offering Putin Ukraine concessions ‘suicidal’ for Europe: Zelensky
  • Zelensky blasted those who were urging him to give in to some of President Vladimir Putin’s hard-line demands
  • “There has been much talk about the need to yield to Putin, to back down, to make some concessions ...” Zelensky said

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said it would be “suicidal” for Europe to offer the Kremlin concessions to halt its invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to European leaders at a summit in Hungary, Zelensky blasted those who were urging him to give in to some of President Vladimir Putin’s hard-line demands, and urged Europe and the United States not to loosen ties following the election of Donald Trump.
“There has been much talk about the need to yield to Putin, to back down, to make some concessions ... It’s unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all Europe,” Zelensky said, according to a copy of the address provided to AFP by the Ukrainian presidency.
He accused some European leaders, without specifying who, of “strongly” pushing Ukraine to make “concessions to Putin” — something Kyiv says would only embolden the Kremlin leader and encourage further aggression.
“We need sufficient weapons, not support in talks. Hugs with Putin won’t help. Some of you have been hugging him for 20 years, and things are only getting worse,” Zelensky said.
The summit was being hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has repeatedly railed against the West’s multi-billion dollar support to Kyiv.
Zelensky also urged Europe and the US to preserve their strong ties following Trump’s election victory this week.
The Republican has repeatedly criticized American aid to Ukraine and said he could end the war within hours of taking office.
“We do hope that America will become stronger. This is the kind of America that Europe needs. And a strong Europe is what America needs. This is the connection between allies that must be valued and cannot be lost,” Zelensky said.
As he repeated a call for more Western arms for his struggling army, Zelensky said Europe had to realize that North Korea was effectively “waging war” on the continent.
“North Korea is now, in effect, waging war in Europe. North Korean soldiers are attempting to kill our people on European soil,” he said, referring to reports Pyongyang has deployed troops to Russia to support the invasion.


US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal: official

US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal: official
Updated 07 November 2024
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US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal: official

US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal: official
  • The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so

WASHINGTON: A US military judge has reinstated plea agreements for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, an official said Thursday, three months after the deals were scrapped by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The agreements — which are understood to take the death penalty off the table — had triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks, and Austin said that both they and the American public deserved to see the defendants stand trial.
“I can confirm that the military judge has ruled that the pretrial agreements for the three accused are valid and enforceable,” the US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.
The plea deals with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices were announced in late July in a step that appeared to have moved their long-running cases toward resolution after years of being bogged down in pre-trial maneuverings while the defendants remained held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
But Austin withdrew the agreements two days after they were announced, saying the decision should rest with him given its significance.
He subsequently told journalists that “the families of the victims, our service members and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out in this case.”
Much of the legal jousting surrounding the men’s cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the CIA in the years after 9/11 — a thorny issue that the plea agreements would have avoided.


India’s Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution

India’s Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution
Updated 07 November 2024
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India’s Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution

India’s Hindus bathe in holy river defiled by pollution
  • Thousands celebrated the festival of Chhath Puja for the Hindu sun god Surya, entering the stinking Yamuna waters to pray
  • A parliamentary report in February called the Yamuna ‘more of a toxic waterway than a river’

NEW DELHI: Sweeping aside thick toxic scum, thousands of Hindu devotees ignored court warnings Thursday against bathing in the sacred but sewage-filled Yamuna river, a grim display of environmental degradation in India’s capital.
Thousands celebrated the festival of Chhath Puja for the Hindu sun god Surya, entering the stinking waters to pray as the evening rays set in the sky.
A parliamentary report in February called the Yamuna “more of a toxic waterway than a river,” saying the foam clouds were formed from a potent chemical soup including laundry detergent and phosphates from fertilizers.
“Please understand you will fall sick,” a high court order said Wednesday, Indian media reported, restricting ritual bathing on health grounds. “We can’t allow you to go into the water.”
But housewife Krishnawati Devi, 45, said she was not worried.
“I believe the waters of the river are pure and blessed by the sun god himself,” she said. “Nothing will happen to me — god will take care of everything.”
Hindu faithful ignored the order, with women wrapped in fine saris and heavy jewelry wading into the grey waters.
White foam swirled around their feet. In places, it was so thick it looked like the river had frozen.
“Chhath is a festival of unflinching faith,” said Avinash Kumar, 58, a government office worker. “We can also offer prayers at home but it doesn’t feel the same as praying in the river.”
Others thumped drums and sang.
New Delhi’s authorities have poured in anti-foaming agents to disperse the froth, and used nets to sweep the scum away — but it has done nothing to clean the fetid water itself.
“It stinks, but it’s ok,” said 14-year-old schoolgirl Deepa Kumari. “What is important is that we get to celebrate in the river with our people.”
Rituals in the days-long festival culminate at dawn on Friday.
“I don’t bother about the pollution,” said Pooja Prasad, 20, a student. “The mother goddess will take care of all our troubles,” she added.
The sprawling megacity of some 30 million people is also smothered in poisonous smog — fueled by burning crop fields and vehicle exhaust fumes.
Levels of fine particulate matter — dangerous microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs — have this week surged beyond 50 times the World Health Organization recommended daily maximum.
“Toxi-city,” broadcasters dubbed the capital.
City authorities have declared repeated efforts to clean the river.
From an icy source of a Himalayan glacier, the Yamuna feeds into the mighty Ganges, flowing more than 3,100 kilometers (1,925 miles) to the sea in the Bay of Bengal.
But barely 400 kilometers into that journey, the water passing New Delhi is already effectively dead.
The parliamentary report warned of an “excessive presence of heavy metals” and cancer-causing pollutants ranging from arsenic to zinc, from everything from batteries to pesticides.
“Contamination... transform it into a carrier of untreated industrial waste, garbage, agricultural run-off and municipal waste,” the report read.
“This has a profound effect on the well-being of the people.”
Government statistics say 80 percent of the pollution load is raw sewage, far exceeding permissible levels for bathing.
Some of the faithful have traditionally drunk the water.
Levels fluctuate, but in one spot in 2021 in south Delhi, fecal bacteria levels exceeded maximum health regulations by 8,800 times.
But many say they are frustrated at the situation.
“The river is sacred to us, but all the filth from the industrial belt nearby is being pumped into it,” added Kumar.
“Every year they say they are going to clean it, but nothing ever happens.”