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Former US president Barack Obama hits campaign trail for Kamala Harris

Former US president Barack Obama hits campaign trail for Kamala Harris
US vice president Kamala Harris and former US president Barack Obama attend an event to mark the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act in the White House on April 5, 2022. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Updated 10 October 2024
AFP
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Former US president Barack Obama hits campaign trail for Kamala Harris

Former US president Barack Obama hits campaign trail for Kamala Harris
  • America’s first Black president is hitting the campaign trail in the steel city of Pittsburgh
  • Obama’s trip to Pennsylvania is the first stop in what will be a month of campaigning for Harris
Updated 10 October 2024
AFP
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WASHINGTON: Former US president Barack Obama will bring his star power to Kamala Harris’s election campaign Thursday in a bid to get out the vote in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania.
America’s first Black president is hitting the campaign trail in the steel city of Pittsburgh a day after Harris’s Republican rival Donald Trump charged through the must-win state.
The still hugely influential Democrat will be urging people to vote early in person or by mail as Harris looks to lock in as many votes as she can in a nail-biting race.
Trump rallied on Wednesday in President Joe Biden’s childhood hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania and will head on Thursday to the auto industry capital of Detroit in Michigan, another battleground.
Wooing blue-collar voters in the former coal mining town of Scranton, Trump vowed to “drill, baby, drill” for oil and assailed Harris on the economy.
Harris will head to yet another swing state, Nevada, to reach out to Latino voters but the White House said she would be kept informed throughout the day about Hurricane Milton.
The monster hurricane crashed into Florida late Wednesday with Biden warning that it could be the “storm of the century.”
Obama’s trip to Pennsylvania is the first stop in what will be a month of campaigning for Harris in the seven swing states where the 2024 election is likely to be decided.
The White House race remains neck-and-neck between Harris and Trump both nationally and in the battleground states, including Pennsylvania.
Harris’s campaign is counting on Obama, 63, who was president from 2009 to January 2017, to mobilize Black and young voters as she seeks the edge on November 5.
But Obama’s main message on Thursday will be to drive home the early voting message in an agonizingly close race.
Democrats have historically favored early voting over Republicans.
Trump has meanwhile frequently lashed out against anything except on-the-day voting, repeatedly blaming mail-in ballots for his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden, which he still refused to accept.
The Republican himself has also sometimes called early voting into question, despite efforts by his campaign to promote it.
“President Obama believes the stakes of this election could not be more consequential and that is why he is doing everything he can to help elect Vice President Harris,” Obama’s senior adviser Eric Schultz said in a statement.
Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama delivered rapturously received speeches backing Harris at the Democratic National Convention in his hometown of Chicago in August.
He portrayed Harris — America’s first woman, Black and South Asian vice president — as the political heir to his own trailblazing path.
Obama led the crowd in chants of “Yes she can” — a riff on the “Yes he can” chants from his own 2008 campaign — but warned that 2024 would “still be a tight race in a closely divided country.”
The ex-president has also pulled in more than $76 million for the Democratic ticket in this year’s presidential race.
The ex-president endorsed Harris, 59, after Biden dramatically dropped out of the White House race in July.

Topics: US Barack Obama Kamala Harris

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China threatens Taiwan with more trade measures after denouncing president’s speech

China threatens Taiwan with more trade measures after denouncing president’s speech
Updated 7 sec ago
Reuters
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China threatens Taiwan with more trade measures after denouncing president’s speech

China threatens Taiwan with more trade measures after denouncing president’s speech
  • President Lai Ching-Te said China had no right to represent Taiwan, but that the island was willing to work with Beijing to combat challenges like climate change
Updated 7 sec ago
Reuters
BEIJING: China is studying further trade measures against Taiwan, the Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday, two days after Beijing slammed a speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-Te.
The Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan’s ruling party, has not taken any practical measures to lift “trade restrictions” on mainland China, the commerce ministry said in a statement on its official website.
“At present, relevant departments are studying further measures based on the conclusions of the investigation into trade barriers from Taiwan (against mainland China),” it added.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, detests Lai as a “separatist.” Lai and his government reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
On Thursday at his keynote national day speech, Lai said the People’s Republic of China had no right to represent Taiwan, but that the island was willing to work with Beijing to combat challenges like climate change, striking both a firm and conciliatory tone, drawing anger from China.
The Saturday announcement from China’s commerce ministry could portend tariffs or other forms of economic pressure against the island in the near future.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which on Thursday said that Lai’s speech promoted “separatist ideas” and incited confrontation, responded to the announcement by saying the fundamental reason behind the trade dispute was the “DPP authorities’ stubborn adherence to the stance of ‘Taiwan independence’.”
“The political basis makes it difficult for cross-Strait trade disputes to be resolved through negotiation,” it added.
In May, China reinstated tariffs on 134 items it imports from Taiwan, after Beijing’s finance ministry said it would suspend concessions on the items under a trade deal because Taiwan had not reciprocated.
The Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between China and Taiwan was initially signed in 2010 and Taiwanese officials had previously said that China was likely to pressure Lai by ending some of the preferential trading terms within it.

Fire on board an oil tanker off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast extinguished

Fire on board an oil tanker off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast extinguished
Updated 5 min 59 sec ago
AP
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Fire on board an oil tanker off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast extinguished

Fire on board an oil tanker off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast extinguished
  • The fire appears to have broken out in the engine room or in a storage room for paint and spread across the stern of the ship
Updated 5 min 59 sec ago
AP

BERLIN: A fire that broke out on board an oil tanker off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast has been extinguished, authorities said Saturday. The blaze didn’t spread to the ship’s load.
The maritime rescue service was alerted to the fire on board the German-flagged Annika on Friday morning, and shortly afterward took all seven crew members off the vessel. Black smoke from the tanker, which was carrying about 640 metric tonnes of oil, could be seen from the coast.
The fire appears to have broken out in the engine room or in a storage room for paint and spread across the stern of the ship. On Friday afternoon, experts determined that the ship’s condition was stable and authorities decided to have it towed to the port city of Rostock to continue fighting the blaze.
Firefighters inspected the 73-meter long ship after it arrived in the harbor around 1 a.m. and found that the fire was out, Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies said.

Topics: shipping Germany

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Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir

Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
Updated 12 October 2024
AFP
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Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir

Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
  • The New Yorker published excerpts from the book Friday, featuring writing from Navalny’s prison diary and earlier
  • The excerpts capture the loneliness of imprisonment, but also a touch of humor
Updated 12 October 2024
AFP

NEW YORK: Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin’s top political opponent before his death in February, believed he would die in prison, according to his posthumous memoir which will to be released on October 22.
The New Yorker published excerpts from the book Friday, featuring writing from Navalny’s prison diary and earlier.
“I will spend the rest of my life in prison and die here,” he wrote on March 22, 2022.
“There will not be anybody to say goodbye to ... All anniversaries will be celebrated without me. I’ll never see my grandchildren.”
Navalny had been serving a 19-year prison sentence on “extremism” charges in an Arctic penal colony.
His death on February 16 at age 47 drew widespread condemnation, with many blaming Putin.
Navalny was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Russia after suffering a major health emergency from being poisoned in 2020.
“The only thing we should fear is that we will surrender our homeland to be plundered by a gang of liars, thieves, and hypocrites,” he wrote on January 17, 2022.
The excerpts capture the loneliness of imprisonment, but also a touch of humor.
For instance, on July 1, 2022, Navalny outlined his typical day: wake up at 6:00 am, breakfast at 6:20 am and start work at 6:40 am.
“At work, you sit for seven hours at the sewing machine on a stool below knee height,” he wrote.
“After work, you continue to sit for a few hours on a wooden bench under a portrait of Putin. This is called ‘disciplinary activity.’“
The book, entitled “Patriot,” will be released by US publisher Knopf, which is also planning a Russian version.
“It’s impossible to read Navalny’s prison diary without being outraged by the tragedy of his suffering, and by his death,” wrote New Yorker editor David Remnick.
In the last excerpt published in the magazine, dated January 17, 2024, Navalny responds to the question asked to him by his fellow inmates and prison guards: why did he return to Russia?
“I don’t want to give up my country or betray it. If your convictions mean something, you must be prepared to stand up for them and make sacrifices if necessary,” he said.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Alexei Navalny

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IMF to lower member borrowing costs by $1.2 billion annually

IMF to lower member borrowing costs by $1.2 billion annually
Updated 12 October 2024
Reuters
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IMF to lower member borrowing costs by $1.2 billion annually

IMF to lower member borrowing costs by $1.2 billion annually
  • This year, the IMF decided to review policy on charges, surcharges for the first time since 2016
  • The decision came after higher interest rates internationally pushed the borrowing costs higher
Updated 12 October 2024
Reuters

NEW YORK: The International Monetary Fund on Friday approved measures that will reduce its members’ borrowing costs by about $1.2 billion annually, the fund’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.
“The approved measures will lower IMF borrowing costs for members by 36 percent, or about $1.2 billion annually,” Georgieva said in a statement. “The expected number of countries subject to surcharges in fiscal year 2026 will fall from 20 to 13.”
This year, the IMF decided to review its policy on charges and surcharges for the first time since 2016, as higher interest rates globally have pushed borrowing costs higher.
The fund charges regular interest, plus surcharges for loans above a certain threshold or duration, and commitment fees for precautionary arrangements.
The IMF said the charge above the fund’s interest rate will be lowered, while the amount and duration thresholds will rise, as will the threshold for commitment fees.
“While substantially lowered, charges and surcharges remain an essential part of the IMF’s cooperative lending and risk management framework, where all members contribute and all can benefit from support when needed,” Georgieva said.
The changes will take effect on Nov. 1.
The five countries paying the highest surcharges are Ukraine, Egypt, Argentina, Ecuador and Pakistan according to research from Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.
Argentina, currently the IMF’s largest debtor, will save over $3 billion with the changes, according to Finance Secretary Pablo Quirno.
Friday’s announcement falls short of calls by academics, non-profit groups and other economists, who have argued for a full cancelation of IMF surcharges, which they say place extra burdens on borrowing countries at a time when they are in dire economic circumstances and counteract the impact of IMF lending.

Topics: IMF bailout measures

Wanted: male voters for Harris in tough election battle with Trump

Wanted: male voters for Harris in tough election battle with Trump
Updated 12 October 2024
AFP
AP
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Wanted: male voters for Harris in tough election battle with Trump

Wanted: male voters for Harris in tough election battle with Trump
  • Polls show Trump has recently garnered significant support among Black men — and Hispanic men too
  • Ex-President Obama Obama calls on Black male voters not to be hesitant in supporting Harris instead of ‘crazy’ Trump
Updated 12 October 2024
AFP AP

WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris is making a major push for male voters, after an appeal by Barack Obama to Black men to drop sexist attitudes highlighted a key issue for the Democrat in next month’s US presidential election.
As polls show Donald Trump maintaining a lead among men, Harris and her campaign are appealing to them to shun the Republican’s macho “bullying” and back the vice president instead.
A New York Times/Siena survey of likely male voters earlier this week showed Republican former president Trump with a substantial lead over Harris, by 51 percent to 40 percent.
Harris rarely mentions her gender despite being America’s first female vice president, preferring to avoid making it a central issue in her campaign.
But now there are signs that she is being forced to address the issue anyway.
On Tuesday, Harris will appear at a town hall in Detroit with Charlamagne Tha God, a comedian and radio host whose show is popular with young, Black male voters.
She is also deploying running mate Tim Walz, a folksy Midwestern former football coach, in a bid to reach out to male voters with less than four weeks until election day on November 5.
Walz has appeared at football games and regularly talks about his love of hunting.

Vice Presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz meets with players on the Mankato West football team on Oct. 11, 2024 at Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minnessota. (Star Tribune via AP)

And their campaign this week launched “Hunters and Anglers for Harris-Walz” in a clear pitch to male voters.
The Harris campaign also said it would unleash “Big Dog Bill Clinton” to woo younger Black men in southern battleground states next week — despite his history of sex scandals.
But it was Obama’s comments to “the brothers” as he made his first appearance on the campaign trail for Harris on Thursday that made it clear that Democrats are concerned.

Republican former president Trump has long had a strong base among white men, but polls show he has recently garnered signficant support among Black men — and Hispanic men too.
A poll by the NAACP in September showed 63 percent of Black voters backed Harris over 13 percent for Trump — but while support for Harris among Black women was at 67 percent, it fell to 49 percent among Black men under 50.
While Trump has recently been stepping up his machismo-drenched pitch to young men on right-wing podcasts, Harris has also been reaching out.
Last week, she appeared on former “shock jock” turned pro-Harris radio host Howard Stern’s show where she talked about her love of Formula One.
“She should try to do better with men than she is currently doing,” Sarah Longwell, a conservative strategist and executive director of Republican Voters Against Trump, said in an interview with the Playbook Deep Dive podcast.

She pointed to figures in a recent Harvard-Harris poll showing that 18 to 29-year-old men backed Harris by 17 points while women did so 47 points for Harris, adding: “That’s a big gap.”
“It is the men. It is Hispanic men. It is Black men, which means it is part of this bigger cultural thing with men,” she said.
It’s not just Harris who is chasing voters of the opposite gender, however.
Next week, Trump will hold a town hall with women, despite his own history of sex scandals and as Democrats hammer him for his stance on abortion.

Obama blasts ‘crazy’ Trump
On Thursday, Obama lashed out at “crazy” Donald Trump and urged voters to back Harris as he brought his star power to the 2024 election campaign trail for the first time.
As he hit the stump in the must-win state of Pennsylvania, Obama also chided Black male voters for what he called hesitancy in supporting Democrat Harris because they “just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president.”
Obama trained his fire on Trump during a pumped-up rally in Pittsburgh, comparing the Republican’s long speeches to late Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro’s and calling the billionaire out of touch with ordinary people.

America’s first Black president admitted that “this election’s going to be tight” as many voters were still struggling with high prices.
But he told the crowd that “what I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up,” adding: “You think Donald Trump ever changed a diaper?’
The popular Democrat called Trump’s schemes to sell bibles as “crazy” and used the same word to describe the 78-year-old former president’s embrace of conspiracy theories.
As the crowd booed Trump, his successor in the White House, Obama added: “Don’t boo — vote.”
“Kamala is as prepared for the job as any nominee for president has ever been,” he added.

Vice president Harris’s campaign said Obama’s appearance, the first in a series in battleground states before the November 5 election, was designed to get people out to vote in crucial Pennsylvania.

Former US President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event for US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 2024. (AFP)

Obama took aim at male voters who might be attracted by the Republican’s appeals toward machismo.
“I’m sorry gentlemen, I’ve noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior, the bullying and the putting people down, is a sign of strength,” he said.
“And I am here to tell you that is not what real strength is.”

Earlier, in a surprise stop before the rally at a campaign field office in Pittsburgh, Obama made an unusually direct appeal to Black men, whose support polls show Harris has struggled to mobilize.
Saying he had some “truths” that he wanted the Black community to hear, Obama said that “you’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses, I’ve got a problem with that.”
“Because part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president.”

Topics: US Election 2024 Kamala Harris Donald Trump Barack Obama

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