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World leaders react to Trump rally shooting, UN chief calls it ‘act of political violence’

Update World leaders react to Trump rally shooting, UN chief calls it ‘act of political violence’
A person holds the US flag outside Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, as supporters await word on the condition of Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump after he was injured in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 14 July 2024
AFP
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World leaders react to Trump rally shooting, UN chief calls it ‘act of political violence’

World leaders react to Trump rally shooting, UN chief calls it ‘act of political violence’
  • “Political violence in any form has no place in our societies,” said British PM Keir Starmer
  • Argentina’s rightwing President Javier Milei blamed the “international left” for the assassination attempt
Updated 14 July 2024
AFP
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WASHINGTON: World leaders on Sunday reacted with shock to the wounding of Donald Trump in an assassination attempt against the former US president at an election rally.

Presidents and prime ministers globally spoke out against political violence and expressed their support for those affected by the shooting on Saturday, which killed one bystander and left two other spectators critically wounded.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson condemned the shooting as an "act of political violence," according his chief spokesperson.
“The Secretary-General unequivocally condemns this act of political violence. He sends his best wishes to President Trump for a speedy recovery,” the spokesperson added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled by the shocking scenes” at the rally.

“Political violence in any form has no place in our societies,” the premier said.

Referring to “these dark hours,” Hungary’s nationalist leader Victor Orban offered his “thoughts and prayers” to Trump.

UAE foreign ministry condemned the incident in a statment on X.

 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was “following with apprehension” updates from Pennsylvania and wished Trump a speedy recovery. The right-wing leader expressed her hope that “in the following months of the electoral campaign, dialogue and responsibility can prevail over hate and violence.”

Former US president Barack Obama said "there is no place for political violence in our democracy."

 

French President Emmanuel Macron said his thoughts were with Trump, adding the shooting marked a ‘tragedy for our democracies’.

“I send him my wishes for a speedy recovery. A spectator has died, several are injured. It is a tragedy for our democracies. France shares the shock and indignation of the American people,” Macron said on social media platform X on Sunday.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei blamed the “international left” after the assassination attempt. “In panic of losing at the polls, they resort to terrorism to impose their backward and authoritarian agenda,” said the populist president.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the shooting “must be strongly condemned by all defenders of democracy and political dialogue.”

Costa Rica’s government condemned the attack and said it was following updates on “this unacceptable act.” “As a leader in democracy and peace, we reject all forms of violence,” the presidency said.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric expressed his “unqualified condemnation” of the shooting. “Violence is a threat to democracies and weakens our life together. We must all reject it,” said Boric.

In Bolivia, President Luis Arce said “despite our deep ideological and political differences, violence, wherever it comes from, must always be rejected by everyone.”

Kremlin condemned the violence in politics after the assassination attempt and said the Biden administration created atmosphere for the shooting.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke out against political attacks, saying “we must stand firm against any form of violence that challenges democracy.”

Australia’s Anthony Albanese described the shooting as “concerning and confronting,” expressing his relief that Trump was safe.

“There is no place for violence in the democratic process,” the prime minister said.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Chris Luxon echoed such views, writing “no country should encounter such political violence.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife Sara “were shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump.”

“We pray for his safety and speedy recovery,” Netanyahu said. Political violence “never acceptable,” remarked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Topics: 2024 US Elections Donald Trump

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North Korea’s foreign minister leaves for Russia, embassy in Pyongyang says

North Korea’s foreign minister leaves for Russia, embassy in Pyongyang says
Updated 8 sec ago
Reuters
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North Korea’s foreign minister leaves for Russia, embassy in Pyongyang says

North Korea’s foreign minister leaves for Russia, embassy in Pyongyang says
  • Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said in June that delegations from almost a hundred countries were expected at the forum
Updated 8 sec ago
Reuters
MOSCOW: North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has flown to Russia to attend the fourth Eurasian Women’s Forum and the BRICS Women’s Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia’s embassy in North Korea said on Monday.
“Russian Ambassador (Alexander Ivanovich) Matsegora saw off North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui at the Pyongyang International Airport,” the embassy said in a post on its Vkontakte social network.
The embassy said that the minister’s speeches and participation in discussions are planned at the forum, which will take place Sept. 18 to 20.
Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said in June that delegations from almost a hundred countries were expected at the forum.
“We will strive to ensure a record foreign representation in the entire history of the Forum,” Matviyenko said in June, according to a transcript provided on the Council’s website.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has attended previous meetings of the forum, but the Kremlin is yet to announce his participation in this year’s forum.
Warming ties between the countries reached a new high this year when Putin signed a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that included a mutual defense pledge during a visit to Pyongyang.
The United States and its allies have accused North Korea of helping Russia by supplying weapons for its war in Ukraine in return for economic and other military assistance. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied this.

Death toll rises as torrential rain and flooding force evacuations in central Europe

Death toll rises as torrential rain and flooding force evacuations in central Europe
Updated 16 September 2024
AP
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Death toll rises as torrential rain and flooding force evacuations in central Europe

Death toll rises as torrential rain and flooding force evacuations in central Europe
  • Several countries have already been hit by severe flooding, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania
  • The floods have claimed six lives in Romania and one each in Austria and Poland, while four were declared missing in Czech Republic
Updated 16 September 2024
AP

PRAGUE: The death toll was rising in central European countries on Sunday after days of heavy rains caused widespread flooding and forced evacuations.
Several Central European nations have already been hit by severe flooding, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. Slovakia and Hungary might come next as a result of a low pressure system from northern Italy dumping record rainfall in the region since Thursday.
The floods have claimed six lives in Romania and one each in Austria and Poland. In the Czech Republic, four people who were swept away by waters were missing, police said.
It’s not over yet
Most parts of the Czech Republic have been affected as authorities declared the highest flood warnings at around 100 places across the country. But the situation was worst in two northeastern regions that recorded the biggest rainfall in recent days, including the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border.
In the city of Opava, up to 10,000 people out of a population of around 56,000 have been asked to move to higher ground. Rescuers used boats to transport people to safety in a neighborhood flooded by the raging Opava River.
“There’s no reason to wait,” Mayor Tomáš Navrátil told Czech public radio. He said that the situation was worse than during the last devastating floods in 1997, known as the “flood of the century.”
“We have to focus on saving lives,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala told Czech public television on Sunday. His government was set to meet Monday to assess the damages.
The worst “is not behind us yet,” the prime minister warned.
President Petr Pavel sounded more optimistic, saying “it’s obvious we’ve learned a lesson from the previous crisis.”
At least 4 missing and villages cut off
Thousands of others also were evacuated in the towns of Krnov, which was almost completely flooded, and Cesky Tesin. The Oder River that flows to Poland was reaching extreme levels in the city of Ostrava and in Bohumin, prompting evacuations.
Ostrava, the regional capital, is the third-largest Czech city. Mayor Jan Dohnal said the city will face major traffic disruptions in the days to come. Almost no trains were operating in the region.
Towns and villages in the Jeseniky mountains, including the local center of Jesenik, were inundated and isolated by raging waters that turned roads into rivers. The military sent a helicopter to help with evacuations.
Jesenik Mayor Zdenka Blistanova told Czech public television that several houses in her and other nearby towns have been destroyed by the floods. A number of bridges and roads have been badly damaged.
About 260,000 households were without power Sunday morning in the entire country, while traffic was halted on many roads, including the major D1 highway.
A firefighter dies as Lower Austria declared a disaster zone
A firefighter died after “slipping on stairs” while pumping out a flooded basement in the town of Tulln, the head of the fire department of Lower Austria, Dietmar Fahrafellner, told reporters on Sunday.
Authorities declared the entire state of Lower Austria in the northeastern part of the country a disaster zone, while 10,000 relief forces have so far evacuated 1,100 houses there. Emergency personnel have started setting up accommodation for residents who had to flee their homes due to the flooding.
The municipality of Lilienfeld with about 25,000 residents is cut off from the outside world. Residents were told to boil tap water as a precaution.
The situation is particularly dangerous along the Kamp River, which flows into the Danube. The Ottenstein reservoir on the river functions as a buffer, but exceeding its limits could cause more flooding, experts say.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the situation “continues to worsen.” He said 2,400 soldiers were ready to support the relief effort in Austria. Of those, 1,000 soldiers will deploy to the disaster zone in Lower Austria, where dams were beginning to burst.
“We are experiencing difficult and dramatic hours in Lower Austria. For many people in Lower Austria these will probably be the most difficult hours of their lives,” said Johanna Mikl-Leitner, the governor of Lower Austria.
In Vienna, the Wien River overflowed its banks, flooding homes and forcing first evacuations of nearby houses.
Romania reports 2 more flooding victims
Romanian authorities said Sunday that another two people had died in the hard-hit eastern county of Galati after four were reported dead there a day earlier, following unprecedented rain.
Dramatic flooding in Poland
In Poland, one person was presumed dead in floods in the southwest, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday.
Tusk said the situation was “dramatic” around the town of Klodzko, with about 25,000 residents, located in a valley in the Sudetes mountains near the border with the Czech Republic. Helicopters were used to pick up people from roofs in a few cases.
In Glucholazy, rising waters overflowed a river embankment and flooded streets and houses. Mayor Paweł Szymkowicz said, “we are drowning,” and appealed to residents to evacuate to high ground.
A bridge in the town collapsed under the flood pressure and a police station building was knocked down in Stronie Śląskie, after floodwaters burst through a dam. Submerged cars could be seen in many places in the Kłodzko Valley region bordering the Czech Republic, while a new flood wave was expected there.
In the city of Jelenia Gora, which has 75,000 residents, downtown streets were flooded after one of the embankments burst on the Bobr River. City authorities have warned residents they may need to evacuate as more flooding was moving toward the city.
Energy supplies and communications were cut off in some flooded areas, and regions may resort to using the satellite-based Starlink service, Tusk said.
The weather change arrived following a hot start to September in the region. Scientists have documented Earth’s hottest summer, breaking a record set just a year ago.
A hotter atmosphere, driven by human-caused climate change, can lead to more intense rainfall.

Topics: Central Europe floods Poland Slovakia Romania

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Traces of this Pakistani megacity’s past are vanishing, but one flamboyant pink palace endures

Traces of this Pakistani megacity’s past are vanishing, but one flamboyant pink palace endures
Updated 16 September 2024
AP
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Traces of this Pakistani megacity’s past are vanishing, but one flamboyant pink palace endures

Traces of this Pakistani megacity’s past are vanishing, but one flamboyant pink palace endures
  • Karachi’s population grows by around 2 percent every year and with dozens of communities and cultures competing for space there’s little effort to protect the city’s historic sites
Updated 16 September 2024
AP

KARACHI, Pakistan: Stained glass windows, a sweeping staircase and embellished interiors make Mohatta Palace a gem in Karachi, a Pakistani megacity of 20 million people. Peacocks roam the lawn and the sounds of construction and traffic melt away as visitors enter the grounds.
The pink stone balustrades, domes and parapets look like they’ve been plucked from the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, a relic of a time when Muslims and Hindus lived side by side in the port city.
But magnificence is no guarantee of survival in a city where land is scarce and development is rampant. Demolition, encroachment, neglect, piecemeal conservation laws and vandalism are eroding signs of Karachi’s past.
The building’s trustees have fended off an attempt to turn it into a dental college, but there’s still a decadeslong lawsuit in which heirs of a former owner are trying to take control of the land. It sat empty for almost two decades before formally opening as a museum in 1999.
The palace sits on prime real estate in the desirable neighborhood of Old Clifton, among mansions, businesses and upmarket restaurants.
The land under buildings like the Mohatta Palace is widely coveted, said palace lawyer Faisal Siddiqi. “It shows that greed is more important than heritage.”
Karachi’s population grows by around 2 percent every year and with dozens of communities and cultures competing for space there’s little effort to protect the city’s historic sites.
For most Pakistanis, the palace is the closest they’ll get to the architectural splendor of India’s Rajasthan, because travel restrictions and hostile bureaucracies largely keep people in either country from crossing the border for leisure, study or work.
Karachi’s multicultural past makes it harder to find champions for preservation than in a city like Lahore, with its strong connection to the Muslim-dominated Mughal Empire, said Heba Hashmi, a heritage manager and maritime archaeologist.
“The scale of organic local community support needed to prioritize government investment in the preservation effort is nearly impossible to garner in a city as socially fragmented as Karachi,” she said.
Mohatta Palace is a symbol of that diversity. Hindu entrepreneur Shivratan Mohatta had it built in the 1920s because he wanted a coastal residence for his ailing wife to benefit from the Arabian Sea breeze. Hundreds of donkey carts carried the distinctively colored pink stone from Jodhpur, now across the border in India.
He left after partition in 1947, when India and Pakistan were carved from the former British Empire as independent nations, and for a time the palace was occupied by the Foreign Ministry.
Next, it passed into the hands of Pakistani political royalty as the home of Fatima Jinnah, the younger sister of Pakistan’s first leader and a powerful politician in her own right.
After her death, the authorities gave the building to her sister Shirin, but Shirin’s passing in 1980 sparked a court fight between people saying they were her relatives, and a court ordered the building sealed.
The darkened and empty palace, with its overgrown gardens and padlocked gates, caught people’s imagination. Rumors spread of spirits and supernatural happenings.
Someone who heard the stories as a young girl was Nasreen Askari, now the museum’s director.
“As a child I used to rush past,” she said. “I was told it was a bhoot (ghost) bungalow and warned, don’t go there.”
Visitor Ahmed Tariq had heard a lot about the palace’s architecture and history. “I’m from Bahawalpur (in Punjab, India) where we have the Noor Mahal palace, so I wanted to look at this one. It’s well-maintained, there’s a lot of detail and effort in the presentations. It’s been a good experience.”
But the money to maintain the palace isn’t coming from admission fees.
General admission is 30 rupees, or 10 US cents, and it’s free for students, children and seniors. On a sweltering afternoon, the palace drew just a trickle of visitors.
It’s open Tuesday to Sunday but closes on public holidays; even the 11 a.m.-6 p.m. hours are not conducive for a late-night city like Karachi.
The palace is rented out for corporate and charitable events. Local media report that residents grumble about traffic and noise levels.
But the palace doesn’t welcome all attention, even if it could help carve out a space for the building in modern Pakistan.
Rumors about ghosts still spread by TikTok, pulling in influencers looking for spooky stories. But the palace bans filming inside, and briefly banned TikTokers.
“It is not the attention the trustees wanted,” said Askari. “That’s what happens when you have anything of consequence or unusual. It catches the eye.”
A sign on the gates also prohibits fashion shoots, weddings and filming for commercials.
“We could make so much money, but the floodgates would open,” said Askari. “There would be non-stop weddings and no space for visitors or events, so much cleaning up as well.”
Hashmi, the archaeologist, said there is often a strong sense of territorialism around the sites that have been preserved.
“It counterproductively converts a site of public heritage into an exclusive and often expensive artifact for selective consumption.”

 

Topics: Karachi Pakistan India

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Russia launches drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s officials say

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Updated 16 September 2024
Reuters
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Russia launches drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s officials say

Russia launches drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s officials say
Updated 16 September 2024
Reuters

KYIV: Russia launched a drone attack overnight on Kyiv, with air defense units engaged in repelling the strikes, Ukrainian military officials said on Monday on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters’ witnesses reported a series of loud explosions in what sounded like air defense systems in operation.

 

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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Eight migrants die in Channel crossing attempt

Eight migrants die in Channel crossing attempt
Updated 16 September 2024
AFP
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Eight migrants die in Channel crossing attempt

Eight migrants die in Channel crossing attempt
  • Latest tragedy means 46 migrants have lost their lives attempting to reach British shores so far this year
  • The overcrowded vessel had 59 people on board from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran, says French official
  • More than 22,000 migrants have arrived in England by crossing the Channel since the beginning of this year, say officials
Updated 16 September 2024
AFP

AMBLETEUSE, France: Eight migrants died on Sunday when their overcrowded vessel capsized while trying to cross the Channel from France to England, French authorities said, less than two weeks after the deadliest such disaster this year.
The latest tragedy means 46 migrants have lost their lives attempting to reach British shores so far this year, a regional official said, up from 12 in 2023.
The French and British governments have sought for years to stop the flow of migrants, who pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the passage on overloaded rubber dinghies.
Regional prefect Jacques Billant said the incident happened at around 1:00 a.m. (2300 GMT on Saturday) off the coast of the northern town of Ambleteuse.
“The toll was terrible, with eight people reported dead,” he told the press near the site of the accident.
He said they seemed all to be men.
Six survivors were hospitalized, including a 10-month-old baby with hypothermia, he added.
The boat had set off from the Slack river that flows into the sea between the towns of Wimereux and Ambleteuse.
It had 59 people on board from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran, Billant said.
“Only one out of six had a life jacket,” he said.
The dinghy “quickly got into difficulty and ran aground,” he said. “The boat was torn apart on the rocks.”

Christel Leclair, a volunteer at a local charity, said a second boat had departed at around 7:30 a.m. despite the fatal accident.
Departures “happen the whole time — winter, day, night, summer... as soon as the sea is calm,” she said.
“The boats are more and more overcrowded. They don’t have life jackets, just sometimes the inner tube of a tire,” she added.
“There are children, pregnant women and tiny babies. We’re sad and deflated.”
The Auberge des Migrants (Migrant shelter) charity on X called on the French and British states to “immediately rethink their migration policy.”
Billant said that this year French authorities had dismantled 20 people smuggling networks, arresting 77 people of whom 59 have been referred to the courts.
But Charlotte Kwantes, of the Utopia 56 charity helping migrants, said departures would only continue.
Without enough legal options for migrants wishing to reach the United Kingdom, “people are continuing and will continue to take the same risks, whatever the quantity of patrols and means deployed at the border,” she said.

Maritime authorities said Saturday that migrants had made numerous attempts to cross the Channel in recent days, with 200 people rescued in 24 hours over Friday and Saturday alone.
The latest incident comes after at least 12 migrants including six minors, mostly from Eritrea, died when their boat capsized off the northern French coast on September 3.
More than 22,000 migrants have arrived in England by crossing the Channel since the beginning of this year, according to British officials.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and France’s President Emmanuel Macron pledged this summer to strengthen “cooperation” in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.
Starmer’s office on Sunday announced the appointment of Martin Hewitt as chief of the new UK Border Security Command, set up to bolster the fight against illegal migration notably by leading joint investigations with other European countries.
Hewitt will accompany Starmer during a trip to Rome on Monday for talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni where tackling illegal migration will be high on the agenda.
The Channel crossings often prove perilous, and in November 2021, 27 migrants died when their boat capsized in the deadliest single such disaster to date.
French authorities seek to stop migrants taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.
 

Topics: English channel Migrant crisis Auberge des Migrants Utopia 56

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Traces of this Pakistani megacity’s past are vanishing, but one flamboyant pink palace endures
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