Kamala Harris emerges as frontrunner to oust Trump

Agencies
January 29, 2019

Washington, Jan 29: Early 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris introduced herself to American voters Monday by drawing a sharp contrast with Donald Trump, offering a robust defense of her progressive positions a day after formally declaring her White House bid.

By launching her campaign a year before any primary votes are cast, the Democratic senator from California leapfrogs several party luminaries waiting in the wings, and a few already in the race, to become the de facto frontrunner.

It is a burgeoning field that may ultimately feature dozens of candidates seeking to oust President Donald Trump.

Harris immediately took her campaign to Iowa, the state that votes first in the nominating process, holding a televised town hall from Des Moines where she eviscerated the Trump administration for "lighting that fire" of racial division and seeking to "vilify" young immigrants.

"There is a lot of work to do," she told a crowd at Drake University, deftly handling questions from health care to criminal justice reform to gun safety to the war in Afghanistan.

A crowd of more than 20,000 watched her kick off her campaign Sunday in Oakland, California. But her prime-time town hall brought her into the living rooms of many more Americans.

Complicating the launch, billionaire former Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz said hours after her announcement that he is seriously considering entering the race -- as an independent.

The self-described "lifelong Democrat" told CBS news show "60 Minutes" that he will run as a "centrist independent outside of the two-party system."

Not only is Trump unqualified to be president, Schultz said, but Republicans and Democrats are failing the American people by engaging daily in "revenge politics."

Schultz's announcement drew sharp rebukes from Democrats, who warned he would siphon off Democratic votes and clear Trump's path to re-election.

"I urge him, for the good of the country, to reconsider this bad idea," tweeted House Democrat Brendan Boyle.

Trump, clearly aware that a Schultz run could help the sitting president, appear to seek to goad him into the race, declaring the coffee king "doesn't have the 'guts' to run for President!"

But another billionaire businessman, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, strongly urged Schultz to halt his independent antics.

"In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the president," said Bloomberg, who himself considered an independent run three years ago but ultimately backed off.

Schultz, at a book signing in New York, stressed he was not aiming to split the Democratic vote.

"I am not running against the Democrats," although the party has shifted "far, far left," Schultz said, insisting "nobody" wants to see Trump out of office more than he does.

Harris, 54, and Schultz, 65, join several candidate already in the race, including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, New York's Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, House Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Obama-era housing secretary Julian Castro of Texas.

The compelling Oakland speech and follow-up town hall was a double-barrelled show of strength by Harris and most likely a calculated shot across the bow to those still on the 2020 sidelines, notably the four Bs mulling a run: Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker and Beto O'Rourke.

Harris, a former state attorney general, said her platform will include several progressive policies like debt-free college, a "green new deal" addressing climate change and "Medicare for all," which would allow Americans to opt into government-run health coverage.

Harris rarely mentioned Trump by name, but he was clearly a target.

She said projecting presidential authority "means speaking with integrity (and) speaking truth, and speaking in a way that expresses and indicates some level of interest and concern in people other than oneself."

On immigration, she blasted Trump's "inhumane" policy that has led to child separations at the border, and said he has failed young immigrants who were brought to the country as children.

"They're serving in our military, they are living productive lives, and this administration has decided to vilify them and to trade on them for the sake of this president's medieval vanity project called a wall," she said.

Harris's father is from Jamaica and her mother is Indian. If elected, she would become the first African American woman president in US history.

One distinct advantage for Harris is the shift that her home state has made in the primary calendar.

For years, California -- the nation's most populous state -- voted near the end of the process, meaning nominees were often decided before a single Californian cast a vote.

But the state has moved its primary forward to March 3, 2020, which would give the Golden State a dramatically more powerful say in determining the nominee.

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News Network
November 7,2024

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The Israeli regime has killed at least 40 people during new airstrikes against eastern Lebanese areas, besides targeting the country’s capital Beirut with fresh acts of aggression.

Lebanon’s health ministry announced the fatalities on Wednesday, saying 53 other people had also been wounded during the aerial attacks that targeted the country’s Bekaa Valley, including the city of Baalbek.

In early Thursday, the regime was also reported to have attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs, including a site adjacent to Rafiq Hariri International Airport.

The attacks came after the regime issued short-notice evacuation orders apparently directed at the residents of the areas, claiming that the areas contained facilities belonging to Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.

Tel Aviv has been using similar claims on countless occasions since last October, when it markedly intensified its deadly acts of aggression against Lebanon, in order to try to justify the escalation. Hezbollah has, however, invariably refuted the claims.

Also on Wednesday, the United Nations warned in its most recent flash report on the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli atrocities targeting Lebanon that the aggression had “reached a critical point.”

The attacks have claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people, which was “58 percent more than the 1,900 fatalities” that were caused by the regime’s 2006 war against Lebanon, the report said.

“Additionally, an estimated 1.3 million people have been displaced, both within Lebanon and into neighboring countries, 33 percent more than the number of people displaced in 2006,” it added.

Women comprised the majority of those who had been rendered homeless within Lebanon as a result of the Israeli attacks, the report noted.

It also regretted that the Israeli attacks had featured 78 assaults on healthcare facilities across the country that had claimed the lives of 130 health workers and injured 111 others.

In response to the aggression, Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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News Network
November 4,2024

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Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood superstar once known for being a chain smoker, has revealed that he has finally kicked the habit. The revelation came during an event organized by his fan clubs in Bandra to celebrate his 59th birthday on Saturday. 

In a video shared by fans on X, Shah Rukh mentioned, "There’s a good thing – I’m not smoking anymore, guys. I thought I wouldn’t feel so breathless after quitting, but I still do. Inshallah, that will also improve."

The actor has faced criticism for his smoking in the past, most notably in 2012 when he was seen smoking during an IPL match between his team, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Rajasthan Royals. Shah Rukh was fined a modest Rs 100 after pleading guilty in court in Jaipur for smoking in public.

During the same event, Shah Rukh held an Ask SRK session where fans asked questions. One fan inquired about what he has learned from his children. In his signature witty style, Shah Rukh recounted his birthday morning with charming anecdotes: "I woke up late after a dinner last night, spent time with my little one whose iPad wasn’t working, then my daughter had issues with her outfits... and then my elder son." The actor’s relatable details entertained the crowd, as always.

Shah Rukh went on to say, "I learn a lot from my family. The more children you have, the more patient you become! That’s what I carry with me to work – patience, love, and care. Whether at home, on set, or in the office, I’m there to fix things for everyone. Patience is the biggest lesson my family has taught me."

Shah Rukh Khan’s career continues to soar after an impressive comeback, with blockbuster hits like Pathaan and Jawan. His recent film Dunki received a more mixed response from the audience.

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News Network
November 17,2024

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An Israeli airstrike on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut has killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's Media Relations Officer, Mohammad Afif, reports say.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raid struck the Ba'ath party’s building in central Beirut district of Ras Al-Naba'a on Sunday, adding that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the leader of the resistance media front.

According to Baath Secretary-General Ali Hijazi, Afif was having a meeting in the Baath Party headquarters when Israel carried out the attack.

"Afif did not fight with weapons and did not lead a military unit in Hezbollah. Rather, he led a media unit," he said.

Reuters, Sky News, Al Jazeera and a number of Henrew-language media reported that Afif was killed in the Israeli strike.

However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Afif’s death or whether he was present at the site or not.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and three others injured after an Israeli strike targeted a central district in Beirut.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported that five people were killed in the attack.

The latest development came after Afif said Hezbollah was behind the Caesarea operation and targeting Netanyahu’s home during a speech at the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 22.

This was the second assassination attempt on Afif in the last two months, after he survived an attack on the Hezbollah media relations office several weeks ago.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

At least 3,287 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year, with the vast majority in the past seven weeks. Another 14,222 have been wounded, mostly women and children.

In response to the ongoing aggression, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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