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Category: World

  • FACTBOX – Summer Edition Of Olympic Games Returns To Paris After 100 Years

    FACTBOX – Summer Edition Of Olympic Games Returns To Paris After 100 Years

    • The French capital went through a near-decade-long process since its application to host this year’s Summer Games, setting aside a budget of over $6B

    • The 2024 Olympics will feature medals embedded with fragments of the Eiffel Tower’s iron, as well as a unique 10-peice design of the Olympic torch

    The 2024 Summer Olympics will see the Games return to Paris after a century, with the French capital previously hosting the world’s biggest sporting event in 1900 and 1924.

    The 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics will kick off on Friday, with an opening ceremony on the River Seine, and run until Aug. 11.

    The closing ceremony will take place at the Stade de France.

    Since 1896, the modern Games have been held every four years aside from 1916, 1940 and 1944, when they were canceled because of World Wars I and II.

    Alongside 29 traditional sports, the Summer Olympics will feature breakdancing, sport climbing and wave surfing. Over 17 days, a total of 10,500 athletes will vie for medals in these events.

    Athletes who win will take with them a part of the Eiffel Tower, as the medals feature fragments of iron sourced from the iconic structure.

    The medalists will display an authentic segment of the Eiffel Tower on their chests, as each medal will feature a central piece of iron weighing 18 grams.

    The metal comes from parts of the monument’s structure removed during renovation work during the 20th century.

     

    Candidacy process

    On Sept. 13, 2015, France formally submitted its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

    The letter outlining the application highlighted that “the Olympic spirit and the Parisian identity are defined by unity in diversity, tolerance of differences, and a collective commitment to peace.”

    It was endorsed by Denis Masseglia, then-president of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF), and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

    At the time, Paris, which had set aside a budget of €6.2 billion ($6.7 billion), for the Games, was considered a more formidable contender in 2015 compared to its competitors.

    Paris had last hosted the Olympics in 1924 and had bid for the Games in 1992, 2008 and 2012.

    Alongside the French capital, other cities that declared their candidacy for the 2024 Summer Games included Los Angeles, Hamburg, Budapest and Rome. They announced their bids at various times throughout 2014 and 2015.

    After Hamburg, Budapest and Rome withdrew their bids, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged Los Angeles and Paris to reach a compromise.

    The Committee proposed that Los Angeles host the 2028 Olympic Games and offered $1.8 billion in support for their preparation.

    With Los Angeles accepting this proposal, Paris then agreed to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.

     

    Paris 2024 Olympic mascot

    The Organizing Committee unveiled the designs for the mascots of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on Nov. 14, 2022.

    Named Olympic Phryge, the Paris 2024 mascot is based on the traditional small Phrygian hats that the mascots are shaped after.

    Its name and design were chosen as symbols of freedom and to represent allegorical figures of the French Republic.

    The mascot’s eyes were designed to be both mischievous and expressive and were also compared to the cockade of France, the French national ornament.

    Its features, attire and gestures reflect the mascot’s passion for sports.

     

    Olympic torch

    The Olympic torch relay, a central tradition of the event, was introduced at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games.

    The Paris 2024 Games torch was designed by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur.

    Unlike traditional designs, this year’s Games feature a torch with a unique structure, composed of 10 distinct parts.

    Carried by 10,000 people over thousands of miles, the torch, crafted from metal by steel giant Arcelor Mittal, resembles an oval iron pipe with a rounded center.

    Upon its arrival, the torch will have been carried to more than 400 locations, including France’s overseas territories, until the opening of the event on July 26.

     

    Russian, Belarussian athletes to compete as neutrals

    According to the International Olympic Committee, athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete under neutral status and will not participate in the opening ceremony.

    The flags, emblems and anthems of Russia and Belarus will not be used, and athletes from these countries must adhere to the same anti-doping regulations as all other participants.

    No officials from the governments of either country will be invited or accredited as part of the games.

    The closing ceremony will take place at the Stade de France national stadium on Sunday, Aug. 11.

  • Secret Service Chief Resigns Over Trump Assassination Security Failures

    Secret Service Chief Resigns Over Trump Assassination Security Failures

    Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday, following pressure from lawmakers for security failures during an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

    Citing sources, CNN initially said Cheatle tendered her resignation amid scrutiny of security lapses related to the July 13 assassination attempt.

    “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director,” Cheatle said in her resignation letter that indicated “scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases.”

    She took “full responsibility for the security lapse.”

    Cheatle had led the agency since September 2022.

    She was grilled by lawmakers in the House of Representatives on the timeline of the shooting during a hearing Monday, and faced demands from several members to step down. Her responses to the questions fell short of satisfying lawmakers.

    Cheatle called the assassination attempt “the most significant operational failure” of the Secret Service.

    She said the agency’s mission is to protect US leaders and added: “On the 13th, we failed. As a director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency.”

    Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, and ranking member Jamie Raskin, demanded Cheatle resign Monday in a bipartisan statement.

    US President Joe Biden said Cheatle “selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service.”

    “As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service,” he said in a statement.

    He noted that an independent review to get to the bottom of what happened July 13 continues, saying: “I look forward to assessing its conclusions.”

    “We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon,” he added.

    – ‘You should have been fired’

    Rep. Tim Burchett asked several questions at the hearing and later called the Secret Service chief a “DEI horror story,” in reference to a diversity, equity and inclusion framework to promote groups that have been historically excluded in the workplace based on identity or disability.

    “You said that ‘the buck stops with me,’ and I agree. I don’t think you should resign. I think you should have been fired,” Burchett told Cheatle. “Ma’am, you have not achieved today. You have let the American public down.”

    Rep. Nancy Mace was among the lawmakers who grilled Cheatle, asking her to answer a series of “yes” or “no” questions about the agency’s response to the assassination attempt.

    “Both sides of the aisle today have asked for your resignation. Would you like to use my five minutes to draft your resignation letter? Yes or no?” Mace asked.

    “No. Thank you,” Cheatle responded.

    The Republican representative later asked: “Have you provided all audio and video recordings in your possession to this committee, as we asked on July 15? Yes or no?”

    “I would have to get back to you,” Cheatle said.

    “That is a no. You’re full of sh*t today. You’re just being completely dishonest,” said Mace. “You are being dishonest or lying. You’re being dishonest here with this committee. These are important questions that the American people want answers to.”

    “And you’re just, you’re just dodging and talking around it in generalities. And we had to subpoena you to be here. And you won’t even answer the questions. We have asked you repeatedly to answer our questions. This isn’t hard. These are not hard questions,” Mace said.

    Rep. Glenn Grothman asked Cheatle whether the roof where the shooter was killed had been cleaned.

    “I don’t have an answer for that,” she replied.

  • Situation In Bangladesh: Curfew, Internet Blackout, Military Patrols Continues

    Situation In Bangladesh: Curfew, Internet Blackout, Military Patrols Continues

    Curfew, internet blackout and military patrols continued on Tuesday to quell the unrest that claimed at least 187 lives across the country over the reforms in the public jobs.

    In a fresh order, the government extended the curfew until Thursday. The curfew was imposed, along with military deployment, last Friday night.

    In line with the ruling of the apex court, the government issued a gazette notification on Monday night bringing down the quota to 7% from 56% in public jobs.

    Protesting students, who gave a 48-hour ultimatum to bring normalcy, said in a statement they would respond to the government after normalcy is restored.

    The student protests turned violent after police and ruling Awami League party men allegedly opened fire on protesters last week.

    Dhaka Medical College Hospital police outpost inspector Md Bachchu Mia told Anadolu that on average 70-80 students and people were admitted to the hospital daily since last Tuesday.

    At least 187 people were killed and hundreds of others injured since Tuesday last week. Of them, 13 died in hospitals on this Monday, national newspaper Prothom Alo reported on Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, business leaders, during a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, termed the ongoing complete blackout of internet service “bloodshed” of business.

    They extended their support to the prime minister and demanded early restoration of digital services.

    The prime minister, however, said curfew, and blackouts would continue until the situation improves.

    On charges of violence, over 2,000 people, mostly opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami men, were arrested across the country.

    Protests surged in the South Asian since last week against the 56% quota system, with the government closing educational institutions in response to the unrest.

    Some 30% of the 56% quota in public jobs were reserved for the relatives of independence war veterans.

    However, the country’s top court on Sunday directed the government to reduce the quota to 7%, including 5% for progeny of war veterans.

    Due to internet blackout since last Thursday, the flow of information from Bangladesh has been minimal while most of local media has been unable to update their websites.

    The broadband internet services are expected to be restored on Tuesday night.

  • ‘We Failed’: Secret Service Chief Calls Attack On Trump ‘Most Significant Operational Failure’

    ‘We Failed’: Secret Service Chief Calls Attack On Trump ‘Most Significant Operational Failure’

    The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was “the most significant operational failure” of the Secret Service, said its Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday.

    “The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13 is the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades, and I am keeping him and his family in my thoughts,” Cheatle said during a House Oversight Committee hearing.

    Stating that the agency’s mission is to protect the US leaders, Cheatle added: “On the 13th, we failed. As a director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency.”

    She pledged to “move heaven and earth to ensure” that an incident like the Trump attempted assassination does not happen again.

    During his opening remarks, James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, demanded resignation of Cheatle.

    “However, in complete defiance, Director Cheatle has maintained she will not tender her resignation, therefore, she will answer questions today from members of this committee seeking to provide clarity to the American people about how these events were allowed to transpire,” said Comer.

    Comer also called the assassination attempt as “one of the darkest days in American political history.”

    “It represents the ugliest part of what American politics has become, hatred of each other and a dangerous turn to extremism. Before we are Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans if we play political affiliations above our duty and love of country,” said Comer.

    Trump was attacked on July 13 at his campaign rally in Butler County in the state of Pennsylvania while addressing supporters. One person was killed and two injured. The Secret Service announced that the assailant was “neutralized” at the scene.

    The FBI classified the attack as an assassination attempt and identified the perpetrator who was killed at the scene as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

    – Secret Service scrutiny

    Cheatle was grilled multiple times by House lawmakers regarding the timeline of the shooting during the hearing, and faced calls from several members to step down from her office.

    At one point, she was asked about footage and reports that showed the shooter climbing onto the roof before the attack.

    “We are still combing through communications and when communications were passed,” Cheatle said. “I don’t know all of the communications”.

    The director also said the initial investigation of the agency into the assassination attempt will be completed in two months and no employee from the agency has been disciplined for their role in Bulter.

    Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican, was among the lawmakers demanding Cheatle resign. “You should have come today, ready to give us answers… I call on you to resign today. Today,” said Biggs.

    However, she brushed away the calls, saying: “I think I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time”.

    Representative Jamie Raskin, a ranking member of the Committee, pressed Cheatle regarding information about the presence of a “suspicious” person in the crowd and why was Trump allowed to take the stage.

    “If the detail had been passed information that there was threat, the detail would never have brought the former president out onto stage,” she said.

    She said the agency was informed about a suspicious individual “somewhere between two and five times” on the day of the attempted assassination.

    “I don’t have an exact number to share with you today, but from what I have been able to discern, somewhere between two and five times there was some sort of communication about a suspicious individual” to the agency, Cheatle said.

    – ‘Full of sh*t’

    Rep. Tim Burchett asked several questions and later called the Secret Service chief a “DEI horror story.”

    “You said that ‘the buck stops with me,’ and I agree. I don’t think you should resign. I think you should have been fired,” Burchett told Cheatle. “Ma’am, you have not achieved today. You have let the American public down.”

    Rep. Nancy Mace was also among the lawmakers to grill Cheatle, asking her to answer a series of yes or no questions on the agency’s response to the assassination attempt.

    “Both sides of the aisle today have asked for your resignation. Would you like to use my five minutes to draft your resignation letter? Yes or no?” Mace asked.

    “No. Thank you,” Cheatle responded.

    The Republican representative later asked: “Have you provided all audio and video recordings in your possession to this committee, as we asked on July 15? Yes or no?”

    “I would have to get back to you,” Cheatle said.

    “That is a no. You’re full of sh*t today. You’re just being completely dishonest,” Mace said, adding: “You are being dishonest or lying. You’re being dishonest here with this committee. These are important questions that the American people want answers to.”

    “And you’re just, you’re just dodging and talking around it in generalities. And we had to subpoena you to be here. And you won’t even answer the questions. We have asked you repeatedly to answer our questions. This isn’t hard. These are not hard questions,” Mace concluded.

    Rep. Glenn Grothman asked Cheatle whether the roof that the shooter was killed on had been cleaned or not.

    “I don’t have an answer for that,” she replied.

  • PROFILE – All Eyes On Kamala Harris As Joe Biden Withdraws Candidacy For US Presidential Election

    PROFILE – All Eyes On Kamala Harris As Joe Biden Withdraws Candidacy For US Presidential Election

    US President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he is withdrawing his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election against former President Donald Trump, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him in the bid for Democrats to keep the White House.

    “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling the duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter posted on X.

    The unprecedented decision puts the Democratic Party into scramble mode to choose its official nominee for the Nov. 5 presidential election. Time is ticking, as the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois from Aug. 19-22 is quickly approaching.

    The president wasted no time in endorsing his vice president to replace him in the race against Trump.

    “My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my vice president. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made,” said Biden.

    “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” he continued. “Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”

    Biden’s endorsement does not guarantee that Harris will be the Democratic presidential nominee, but if Harris is chosen by her party and wins the presidential election in November, she will become the first female president in American history.

    Harris was born in 1964 in Oakland, California to a biologist mother who came to the United States from India as a student. Her Black father was an economics professor who came to the US from Jamaica, also as a student.

    Harris studied political science and economics at Howard University in Washington, D.C. before receiving her law degree at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. She had a storied legal career, becoming the first female district attorney for San Francisco in 2004. She also won the 2010 race for California attorney general and was victorious in her reelection bid for her second term as attorney general in 2014.

    In 2016, Harris won the US Senate race in California, becoming the first senator of South Asian origin and the second Black senator to enter Congress from that state. She launched a campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in January 2019 but dropped out of the race less than a year later in December.

    When Biden was officially nominated as the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, he announced in August 2020 that he had chosen Harris as his vice-presidential running mate. After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, Harris became the first woman to serve as the 49th vice president as well as the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve in the nation’s second highest office.

    During her vice presidency, Harris traveled to more than 19 countries and met with over 150 world leaders. She also worked with Biden to reduce unemployment in the US by investing in the economy. Harris actively engaged in fighting against racism and sexism and was an outspoken advocate for abortion rights as well as LGBTQ rights.

    After entering Congress, Harris first made a name for herself with her reaction to a regulation that banned travel to the US from seven Muslim countries which Trump signed into law on Jan. 28, 2017 as soon as he took office.

    While Harris continued her scrutiny and questioning of Trump’s cabinet and senior appointments in 2017, she was elected to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018. Harris also took an active role in the Senate investigations regarding Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential elections.

    In this context, Harris, who questioned US Attorney General William Barr in the Senate about the “Muller report,” was frequently mentioned in the media. In addition to the Judiciary Committee, Harris also served on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Select Intelligence Committee and Budget Committee.

    Despite her impressive credentials, Harris remains a polarizing figure for Democrats, so receiving the endorsement from Biden does not make her a shoe-in for the Democratic presidential nominee. Her views on every topic, including immigration, abortion, health care, student debt relief, climate change and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, are being scrutinized from top to bottom.

    Political experts believe that Harris automatically filling the void for Biden as the party’s nominee is not etched in stone. At the Democratic National Convention next month, Biden was expected to receive the party’s nomination hands-down with nearly 3,900 delegates from all 50 states pledging to support his candidacy, double the 1,976 delegates needed to win the nomination. Now, those delegates are free to vote for whoever they want to.

    If Biden had stepped down as president, Harris would have automatically replaced him as the party’s nominee, but because he is planning to serve out the remainder of his four-year term, Harris does not automatically become the Democratic Party’s candidate for the 2024 election.

    While there have been a number of vice presidents in recent US history who have become the presidential candidates for their respective parties, including Richard Nixon, Walter Mondale, George H.W. Bush, Al Gore, and even Joe Biden, tapping Harris as the next presidential candidate for her party is not necessarily a foregone conclusion, even though choosing her may appear to be the obvious choice.

    Other names being talked about in Democratic political circles include Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Maryland Governor Wes Moore, as well as US Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

    If Harris is nominated as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, recent polls have put her on equal footing with Biden’s numbers facing Trump, with some polls giving the vice president a slight edge, although given the margins of error in many polls, a potential race between Harris and Trump would be too close to call.

    A CBS News/YouGov poll showed that Trump led Harris by three points (51%-48%) compared to a five-point difference versus Biden (52%-47%). An Economist/YouGov poll had Trump leading Harris by five points (44%-39%) whereas Trump only led Biden by two points (43%-41%).

    Polls aside, Democrats now have less than a month to decide if Harris should be their choice to face off against Trump in November.

  • Trump’s Doctor Says He’s In Good Health After Assassination Attempt

    Trump’s Doctor Says He’s In Good Health After Assassination Attempt

    Former US President Donald Trump’s White House doctor said Saturday that the ex-president, who was the target of an assassination attempt, is in good condition.

    Ronny Jackson said in a statement that he has been with Trump since the assassination attempt, evaluating and treating his wound daily.

    He said the bullet passed millimeters from Trump’s head and struck the upper part of his right ear that created a wound 0.8 inches (2 centimeters) wide that extends to the cartilage surface of his ear.

    He noted that initially there was significant bleeding and then noticeable swelling above the ear, which has since improved.

    He said the wound has begun to heal properly and there is intermittent bleeding that still requires dressing.

    Jackson said Trump’s overall condition is good and his wound has healed as expected.

    “It is an absolute miracle he wasn’t killed,” he said.

    Trump was attacked July 13 at a rally in the Butler region in the state of Pennsylvania while addressing supporters at a rally.

    One person was killed and two injured in the attack. The US Secret Service announced that the assailant was “neutralized” at the scene.

    The FBI classified the attack as an assassination attempt and identified the perpetrator who was killed at the scene as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

  • Hunter Biden Found Guilty Of Lying About Drug Use To Buy Gun

    Hunter Biden Found Guilty Of Lying About Drug Use To Buy Gun

    President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of lying about his drug use to illegally buy a gun, a verdict Democrats may seize upon to counter Donald Trump’s claim of a justice system weaponized against him.

    A jury in Wilmington, Delaware, federal court found him guilty on all three counts against him, making Hunter Biden the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.

    A verdict of the 12-member jury must be unanimous on each count.

    The trial followed the May 30 criminal convictionof Trump, the first former U.S. president to be found guilty of a felony and the Republican challenger to Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the Nov. 5 election.

    Trump, convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, accuses Democrats of pursuing that case and three other criminal prosecutions to prevent him from regaining power in his rematch with Joe Biden.

    Congressional Democrats have pointed to cases including the Hunter Biden prosecution as evidence that Joe Biden is not using the justice system for political or personal ends, having said last week he would not pardon his son if convicted.

    The Hunter Biden case was brought by U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss, a Trump appointee.

    Weiss has also charged Hunter Biden with three felony and six misdemeanor tax offenses in California, alleging he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 while spending millions on drugs, escorts, exotic cars and other high-ticket items.

    Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to those charges. A trial is scheduled for Sept. 5 in Los Angeles.

    The Delaware trial included prosecution testimony by Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, former girlfriend and sister-in-law, who gave firsthand accounts of his spiraling addiction in the weeks before and after he bought the gun in October 2018.

    Prosecutors also showed text messages, photos and bank records that they said showed Biden was deep in the throes of addiction when he bought the gun and knowingly broke the law by answering “no” to being a drug user on a government screening form.

    Biden’s lawyers sought to show he was not using drugs when he bought the gun and did not intend to deceive because he didn’t consider himself a drug user when he filled out the form.

    The defense called Hunter Biden’s daughter, Naomi Biden, who testified that her father seemed to be doing well when she saw him shortly before and after he bought the gun.

    The sentencing guidelines for the gun-related charges against Biden are 15 to 21 months, but legal experts say defendants in similar cases often get shorter sentences and are less likely to be incarcerated if they abide by the terms of their pretrial release.

  • Israeli War Cabinet Member Benny Gantz Quits Netanyahu’s Emergency Govt

    Israeli War Cabinet Member Benny Gantz Quits Netanyahu’s Emergency Govt

    Israeli minister Benny Gantz announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government on Sunday, withdrawing the only centrist power in the embattled leader’s far-right coalition amid a months-long war in Gaza.

    The departure of Gantz’s centrist party will not pose an immediate threat to the government. But it could have a serious impact nonetheless, leaving Netanyahu reliant on hardliners, with no end in sight to the Gaza war and a possible escalation in fighting with Lebanese Hezbollah.
    Last month, Gantz presented Netanyahu with a June 8 deadline to come up with a clear day-after strategy for Gaza, where Israel has been pressing a devastating military offensive against the ruling Palestinian militant group Hamas.

    Netanyahu brushed off the ultimatum soon after it was given.

    On Sunday, Gantz said politics was clouding fateful strategic decisions in Netanyahu’s cabinet. Quitting while hostages were still in Gaza and soldiers fighting there was an excruciating decision, he said.

    “Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing toward true victory,” Gantz said in a televised news conference. “That is why we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart but with full confidence.”

    Netanyahu responded in a social media post, telling Gantz it was no time to abandon the battlefront.

    With Gantz gone, Netanyahu would lose the backing of a centrist bloc that has helped broaden support for the government in Israel and abroad, at a time of increasing diplomatic and domestic pressure eight months into the Gaza war.

    While his coalition remains in control of 64 of parliament’s 120 seats, Netanyahu will now have to rely more heavily on the political backing of ultra-nationalist parties, whose leaders angered Washington even before the war and who have since called for a complete Israeli occupation of Gaza.

    This would likely increase strains already apparent in relations with the United States and intensify public pressure at home, with the months-long military campaign still not achieving its stated goals – the destruction of Hamas and the return of more than 100 remaining hostages held in Gaza.

    Polls have shown Gantz, a former army commander and defence minister, to be the most formidable political rival to Netanyahu, whose image as a security hawk was shattered by the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

    Warning that the conflict in Gaza could take years, he urged Netanyahu to agree on an election date in the autumn, to avoid further political infighting at a time of national emergency.

    Gantz joined a unity government soon after Oct. 7 as part of Netanyahu’s inner war cabinet where he, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant alone had votes.

    On Sunday, Gantz described Gallant, who has sparred with Netanyahu and some ultra-nationalists ministers, as a brave leader and called on him ‘to do the right thing,’ though he did not elaborate on what that meant.

    Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded Gantz’s now vacant seat at the war cabinet soon after the resignation was announced.

    Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement Gantz was giving Israel’s enemies what they want.

    Asked whether he was worried about his departure impacting Israel’s standing abroad, Gantz said Gallant and Netanyahu both know “what should be done.”

    “Hopefully they will stick to what should be done and then it will be okay,” he said.

  • Haiti’s New PM Hospitalized

    Haiti’s New PM Hospitalized

    Haiti’s new interim prime minister, Garry Conille, is in stable condition after being hospitalized for an unspecified illness on Saturday afternoon, his office said.

    Conille, 58, who took office just over a week ago, was rushed to hospital after suffering breathing problems, local media reported earlier. His office did not provide details on the cause of his hospitalization.

    “Following a week of intense activities, the Prime Minister … had a slight illness on the afternoon of Saturday June 8, 2024 and went to the hospital for treatment,” his office said in a statement.

    “His situation is stable for the moment,” it added.

    Reuters images showed several ambulances and police officers outside a hospital in a suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince where Conille was reportedly undergoing treatment.

    Conille had briefly led the country over a decade ago, and was most recently a former regional director at U.N. children’s agency UNICEF.

    He was named interim prime minister on May 29 by a transition council with the mandate to restore stability and take back control from violent gangs.

    The transition council aims to hold elections before Feb. 7, 2026, as laid out in Haiti’s constitution, after a series of crises in the country’s leadership.

    President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021, leaving Haiti to this day without a president, while Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned in March this year after he left Haiti to seek support for the Kenyan security mission and was unable to re-enter the country.

  • Four Israeli Hostages Freed From Gaza

    Four Israeli Hostages Freed From Gaza

    Four hostages kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival during the 7 October attacks have been rescued in a daylight raid deep in central Gaza.

    Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were freed during a “high-risk, complex mission” from two separate buildings in the Nuseirat area, the Israel Defense Forces said.

    The IDF said the four are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the ‘Sheba’ Tel-HaShomer Medical Center for further medical examinations – where they have been pictured embracing family members waiting at the facility.

    Dozens of people, including children, have been killed and injured in the area where the operation took place, with images and footage showing significant numbers of casualties.

    Staff at the Al-Aqsa hospital are said to be struggling to treat the casualties.

    ‘Precise intelligence’

    The rare rescue of hostages – a joint operation conducted by the IDF, Israel Security Agency and Israel Police – comes eight months into war with Hamas in Gaza.

    IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said the mission was based on “precise” intelligence and that Israeli forces came under fire during the operation.

    In a televised news conference, Mr Hagari said one Israeli soldier had been badly hurt.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Israeli forces for operating “creatively and bravely”.

    “We will not let up until we complete the mission and return home all the hostages – both those alive and dead,” he added.

    Miss Argamani, a Chinese-born Israeli citizen, was kidnapped from the Nova festival and harrowing video footage from 7 October showed the 25-year-old being taken away on the back of a motorbike screaming, “Don’t kill me!”

    Fresh video of her being reunited with her father, smiling and embracing him on board a vehicle, was broadcast soon after news of the rescue operation on Saturday.

    Mr Kozlov, a Russian who moved to Israel in 2022, had been working as a security guard at the festival when he was kidnapped.

    Mr Jan tried to flee the festival. He and a friend made it to the friend’s car but only managed to drive a short distance before being forced to stop.

    Mr Ziv was part of the security detail at the festival and was initially in contact with his sisters as the attack unfolded, according to an interview with The Times of Israel.

    Andrey Kozlov is a Russian-Israeli who worked in security at the music festival from where he was kidnapped on 7 October. Getty Images.
    Andrey Kozlov is a Russian-Israeli who worked in security at the music festival from where he was kidnapped on 7 October. Getty Images.

    The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters, a group representing the families of the hostages, described the rescue of the four hostages as “a miraculous triumph,” and thanked the IDF for the “heroic operation”.

    The group added: “The Israeli government must remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas — the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for burial.”

    In response to the military offensive in Nuseirat, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said Israel could not force its choices on the group.

    He said the group would not agree a ceasefire deal unless it achieved security for Palestinians.

    During its 7 October attacks in southern Israel Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took some 251 people.

    Some 116 remain in the Palestinian territory, including 41 the army says are dead.

    A deal agreed in November saw Hamas release 105 hostages in return for a week-long ceasefire and some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

    On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry said the death toll in Gaza is now 36,801 people.

  • What Trump’s Conviction Means For The US Election

    What Trump’s Conviction Means For The US Election

    (BBC)-

    Donald Trump’s criminal conviction presents a remarkable collection of historic firsts.

    He’s the first former or serving US president to be found guilty of a crime. He’s the first presumptive major-party nominee to become a convicted felon as well.

    While Trump plans his appeal in the hush-money case, and awaits a sentence on 11 July that could in theory include prison time and a hefty fine, it’s not too early to consider the political fallout.

    That will be difficult, however, given this has never happened before.

    “We often look to history to find some kind of hint of what’s going to happen,” says Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. “But there is nothing in the record that comes even close to this.”

    Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination earlier this year and is scheduled to be crowned at the party’s convention just days after his sentencing.

    Polls indicate he is in a statistical dead heat with President Joe Biden and maintains a slight edge in many key swing states that will decide the election. But those surveys also provide evidence that this conviction might change all of that.

    In exit polls conducted during the Republican primaries this winter, double-digit numbers of voters said that they would not vote for the former president if he were convicted of a felony.

    An April survey by Ipsos and ABC News found that 16% of those backing Trump would reconsider their support in such a situation.

    Those were hypothetical convictions, however. And at the time he was facing four criminal cases, including charges related to an alleged conspiracy to overturn the result of the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents once leaving the White House.

    Now those voters can make their judgement based on a real conviction.

    “The real verdict is going to be [on] 5 November, by the people,” Trump said, moments after leaving the courtroom.

    Doug Schoen, a pollster who worked with Democratic President Bill Clinton and independent New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, says American voters may feel less strongly about the hush-money case by then because it relates to events that took place eight years ago.

    “While it’s not a great thing to be convicted of a crime, what voters will be thinking about in November is inflation, the southern border, competition with China and Russia and the money that is being spent on Israel and Ukraine,” he said.

    Even a slight drop in Trump’s support, however, might be enough to matter in the kind of razor-thin race this presidential contest could become. If a few thousand voters who would have otherwise backed the former president stay home in a key state like Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, it could make all the difference.

    “I do think it will have an impact and damage him as a candidate,” says Ariel Hill-Davis, co-founder of Republican Women for Progress, a group that has sought to move the party away from Trump.

    She says younger voters and those who are college-educated and live in the suburbs have been concerned about Trump’s demeanour and his approach to governing.

    “Those voters are really hesitant to get back in line with the Republican Party headed by Donald Trump,” she says. “The guilty verdict is going to further shore up those concerns.”

    But leading Republicans, many of whom attended the trial in a show of loyalty to the party nominee, were quick to rally behind him.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson called it a shameful day in American history. “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”

    For eight years, experts and opponents have been predicting Trump’s impending political collapse, only to be proven wrong. His 2016 presidential campaign was punctuated by scandals that would have likely felled a typical politician, including Trump’s recorded Access Hollywood conversation about groping women that was referenced multiple times in this trial.

    Mr Trump’s party largely stuck with him through two impeachments and the chaotic end of his presidency, during which the US Capitol was attacked by a mob of his supporters.

    All this did not prevent the former president from undertaking a political revival that has put him in position to win back the White House in November.

    “It’s axiomatic at this point, but Trump’s continued support, despite the kind of scandal that would have scuttled literally any other previous candidate in American history, is truly astounding,” says Mr Engel.

    This historic criminal conviction may prove to be different – particularly if Trump’s appeals fail and he faces the prospect of prison.

    Or it could just be the latest in a long series of seemingly disruptive events that, in hindsight, have only been bumps on Trump’s path to power.

    Allan Lichtman, a professor at American University, has constructed a political model that has successfully predicted the winner of every presidential race since 1984. He concedes, however, that Trump’s criminal conviction could be the kind of “cataclysmic and unprecedented” twist that throws the model for a loop and changes the course of history.

    “History books will record this as a truly extraordinary, unprecedented event, but a lot will depend on what happens afterwards,” he says.

    The ultimate judgement on the importance of Trump’s conviction will come at the hands of voters in November. If the former president is defeated, his guilty verdict is likely to be viewed as one of the reasons why.

    If he wins, it may become just a footnote to Trump’s tumultuous yet consequential political career.

    “History is written by the winners, as we all know,” Mr Engel says.

  • What ICC Arrest Warrants Mean For Israel and Hamas

    What ICC Arrest Warrants Mean For Israel and Hamas

    (BBC)-Benjamin Netanyahu responded with fury to the news that he might face an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    It was “a moral outrage of historic proportions”, he said. Israel was “waging a just war against Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that perpetrated the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

    In a bitter personal attack, Mr Netanyahu said Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was one of the “great antisemites in modern times.”

    Mr Khan, he said, was like judges in Nazi Germany who denied Jews basic rights and enabled the Holocaust. His decision to seek arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister and defence minister was “callously pouring gasoline on the fires of antisemitism that are raging around the world.’

    Mr Netanyahu spoke English on the video that was released by his office. He does that when he wants his message to reach the foreign audience that matters most to him, in the US.

    The outrage expressed by the prime minister, and echoed by Israel’s political leadership, was generated by pages of carefully chosen legal language in a statement issued by Mr Khan, the ICC chief prosecutor who is a British King’s Counsel.

    Word by word, line by line, they add up to a devastating series of allegations against the three most prominent leaders of Hamas as well as Israel’s prime minister and defence minister.

    A determination to apply international law and the laws of armed conflict to all parties, no matter who they are, lies at the heart of Mr Khan’s statement in which he lays out his justification for requesting arrest warrants.

    “No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader – no one – can act with impunity.” The law, he says, cannot be applied selectively. If that happens, “we will be creating conditions for its collapse”.

    It is the decision to hold both sides’ conduct up to the template of international law that is causing so much anger, and not just in Israel.

    US President Joe Biden said it was “outrageous” to apply for arrest warrants. There was “no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas”.

    Hamas demanded the withdrawal of the allegations against its leaders, claiming that the ICC’s prosecutor was “equating the victim with the executioner”. It said the request to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli leadership came seven months too late, after “the Israeli occupation committed thousands of crimes”.

    Mr Khan does not make direct comparisons between the two sides, except to lay out his claim that they have both committed a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    He also emphasises that this latest war comes in the context of “an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas”.

    The court treats Palestine as a state as it has observer status at the United Nations, which meant it was able to sign up to the Rome Statute which created the ICC.

    Mr Netanyahu has declared that Palestinians will never have independence on his watch.

    Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, is believed to be hiding somewhere in the Palestinian enclave
    Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, is believed to be hiding somewhere in the Palestinian enclave. Image | LightRocket via Getty Images

    ICC’s Karim Khan announces arrest warrant application for Israeli and Hamas leaders

    Instead of seeing disgraceful and false parallels between, as Israel’s President Isaac Herzog put it, “these atrocious terrorists and a democratically elected government of Israel”, human rights groups have applauded the way that the ICC prosecutor is seeking to apply the law to both sides.

    Btselm, a leading Israeli human rights organisation, said the warrants marked “Israel’s rapid decline into a moral abyss”.

    “The international community is signalling to Israel that it can no longer maintain its policy of violence, killing and destruction without accountability,” it added.

    Human rights campaigners have complained for many years that powerful Western countries, led by the US, turn a blind eye to Israeli violations of international law, even as they condemn and sanction other states who are not in their camp.

    The actions being taken by Mr Khan and his team are, they believe, long overdue.

    Mr Khan says that the three main leaders of Hamas committed war crimes that include extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape and torture.

    The men named are Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, Mohammed Deif, the commander of the Qassam Brigades, its military wing, and Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau.

    As part of their investigation, Karim Khan and his team interviewed victims and survivors of the 7 October attacks.

    He said Hamas had assaulted fundamental human values: “the love within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness”.

    Israel, Mr Khan said, does have the right to defend itself. But “unconscionable crimes” did not “absolve Israel of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law”.

    The failure to do that, he said, justified issuing warrants for the arrest of Mr Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes including starvation of civilians as a weapon of war, murder, extermination, and intentional attacks on civilians.

    From the start of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks of 7 October, President Biden has issued a series of rebukes to Israel, expressing concern that it was killing too many Palestinian civilians and destroying too much civilian infrastructure in Gaza.

    But in a careful balancing act with a close ally which he has always supported, Mr Biden and his administration have not spelt out in public about what they mean.

    Mr Khan makes his interpretation crystal clear. Israel, he says, has chosen criminal means to achieve its war aims in Gaza – “namely, intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury” to civilians.

    A panel of judges at the ICC now will consider whether to issue the arrest warrants. States signed up to the ICC’s Rome Statute would then be obliged to detain the men if they had the chance.

    The 124 signatories do not include Russia, China and the US. Israel has not signed either.

    But the ICC has ruled that it does have legal authority to prosecute criminal acts in the war because the Palestinians are signatories.

    If the arrest warrants are issued, it would mean that Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, would not be able to visit close Western allies without risking arrest.

    UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the ICC’s actions were “not helpful to reaching a pause in the fighting, getting hostages out or humanitarian aid in”. But if the warrants are issued, Britain would have to make the arrests, unless it could argue successfully that Mr Netanyahu had diplomatic immunity.

    An all-important exception for Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant is the US. The White House believes the ICC does not have jurisdiction in the conflict, a position that might widen the split inside Joe Biden’s Democratic party over the war.

    Progressives have already welcomed the ICC’s action. Staunch allies of Israel among the Democrats might support Republican moves to pass a law to sanction ICC officials or ban them from the US.

    As rumours of impending indictments churned through Europe, America and the Middle East weeks ago, a group of Republican senators issued the kind of threat to Mr Khan and his staff that they might have heard in a movie.

    “Target Israel and we will target you… you have been warned.”

    Yoav Gallant would also be unable to travel freely. The words he used when announcing that Israel would besiege Gaza has been frequently quoted by critics of Israel’s conduct.

    Two days after the Hamas attacks on 7 October, Mr Gallant said: “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed… we are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly”.

    Mr Khan writes in his statement that “Israel has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival”.

    Famine, he says, is present in parts of Gaza and imminent in others.

    Israel denies there is a famine, claiming that food shortages are caused not by their siege – but by Hamas thefts and UN incompetence.

    If an arrest warrant is granted for Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political branch, he will have to think harder about his regular trips to meet senior Arab leaders. He is likely to spend much more time at his base in Qatar, which like Israel, did not sign the Rome Statute that set up the ICC.

    The other two accused Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, are believed to be hiding somewhere inside Gaza. An arrest warrant does not add much to the pressures on them. Israel has been trying to kill them for the last seven months.

    The warrant would also put Mr Netanyahu in a category of accused leaders that also includes Russian President Vladmir Putin, and late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.

    Mr Putin faces an arrest warrant for the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia.

    Before he was killed by his own people, Col Gaddafi’s arrest warrant was for murder and persecution of unarmed civilians.

    It is not attractive company for Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of a state that prides itself on its democracy.

  • Netanyahu Dismisses ICC’s Arrest Warrants Bid As Antisemitic, Vows To Continue Onslaught Against Hamas

    Netanyahu Dismisses ICC’s Arrest Warrants Bid As Antisemitic, Vows To Continue Onslaught Against Hamas

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that a call for arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will not tie Israel’s hands in its war on Gaza.

    In video statement, Netanyahu said the ICC’s warrants are directed against all of Israel and reiterated that the court’s move was antisemitic.

    He harshly attacked ICC Public Prosecutor Karim Khan, claiming that seeking to issue arrest warrants against him and Gallant along with three leaders from the Palestinian group Hamas is “an utter distortion of reality.”

    Several Israeli officials including Foreign Minister Israel Katz slammed Khan’s announcement made earlier in the day, with all of them accusing the ICC of antisemitism.

    Hamas earlier called on Khan to cancel the request for arrest warrants against three of its leaders.

    In a statement, it said the ICC’s arrest warrants came late after seven months “during which the Israeli occupation committed thousands of crimes against Palestinian civilians, including children, women, doctors and journalists.”

    Khan applied for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leaders including political chief Ismail Haniyeh, Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar and military chief Mohammed Deif.

    Khan said he has reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” committed on Palestinian territories, specifically in the Gaza Strip, from at least Oct. 8 last year.

    He added that the arrest warrants for the three Hamas leaders are for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” committed in Israel and the Gaza Strip “from at least 7 October 2023.”

    Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave.

    More than 35,500 Palestinians have since been killed, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and over 79,600 others injured since last October following an attack by Hamas.

    More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

    Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered it to ensure that its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

  • Who Is Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s President Whose Chopper Has Crashed And What Happens Next

    Who Is Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s President Whose Chopper Has Crashed And What Happens Next

    Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi has long been seen as a protégé to Iran’s supreme leader and a potential successor for his position within the country’s Shiite theocracy.

    News of his helicopter making what state media described as a “hard landing” on Sunday immediately brought new attention to the leader, who already faces sanctions from the U.S. and other nations over his involvement in the mass execution of prisoners in 1988.

    Raisi, 63, previously ran Iran’s judiciary. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2017 against Hassan Rouhani, the relatively moderate cleric who as president reached Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

    In 2021, Raisi ran again in an election that saw all of his potentially prominent opponents barred for running under Iran’s vetting system. He swept nearly 62% of the 28.9 million votes, the lowest turnout by percentage in the Islamic Republic’s history. Millions stayed home and others voided ballots.

    Raisi was defiant when asked at a news conference after his election about the 1988 executions, which saw sham retrials of political prisoners, militants and others that would become known as “death commissions” at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

    After Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini accepted a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, heavily armed by Saddam Hussein, stormed across the Iranian border from Iraq in a surprise attack. Iran blunted their assault.

    The trials began around that time, with defendants asked to identify themselves. Those who responded “mujahedeen” were sent to their deaths, while others were questioned about their willingness to “clear minefields for the army of the Islamic Republic,” according to a 1990 Amnesty International report. International rights groups estimate that as many as 5,000 people were executed. Raisi served on the commissions.

    The U.S. Treasury in 2019 sanctioned Raisi “for his administrative oversight over the executions of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime and the torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in Iran, including amputations.” It also mentioned his involvement in the 1988 executions.

    Iran ultimately is run by its 85-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But as president, Raisi supported the country’s enrichment of uranium up to near-weapons-grade levels, as well as it hampering international inspectors as part of its confrontation with the West.

    Raisi also supported attacking Israel in a massive assault in April that saw over 300 drones and missiles fired at the country in response for a suspected Israeli attack that killed Iranian generals at the country’s embassy compound in Damascus, Syria — itself a widening of a yearslong shadow war between the two countries.

    He also supported the country’s security services as they cracked down on all dissent, including in the aftermath of the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini and the nationwide protests that followed.

    The monthslong security crackdown killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death after her arrest for not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities.

    What happens if an Iranian president dies in office?

    Below is brief outline of what Iran’s constitution says happens if a president is incapacitated or dies in office:

    * According to article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution, if a president dies in office the first vice president takes over, with the confirmation of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state.

    * A council consisting of the first vice president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary must arrange a election for a new president within a maximum period of 50 days.

    Raisi was elected president in 2021 and, under the current timetable, presidential elections are due to take place in 2025.

  • Nancy Pelosi Net Worth: Everything About the Wealth of a Political Powerhouse

    Nancy Pelosi Net Worth: Everything About the Wealth of a Political Powerhouse

    Nancy Pelosi, a wealthy U.S. Representative, has an estimated net worth of $165 million in 2024. She held the position of 52nd Speaker of the House twice, from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2024.

    Pelosi also led the House Democrats from 2003 to 2024, making her the longest-serving female Speaker.

    Along with her husband, Paul Pelosi, she owns multiple properties, including a Napa Valley vineyard that earns income from selling grapes.

    Paul Pelosi co-founded Financial Leasing Services, a venture capital firm that invests in companies like Apple, Facebook, and Disney.

    Nancy Pelosi possesses more than 20 real estate properties, valued at over $40 million in total. She also maintains a substantial stock portfolio, which includes shares in numerous top companies.

    Unveiling Nancy Pelosi

    Nancy Patricia Pelosi, born on March 26, 1940, is an American politician. She served as the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023.

    Pelosi, a member of the Democratic Party, made history as the first woman elected as U.S. House Speaker and the first woman to lead a major political party in Congress.

    She led the House Democrats from 2003 to 2023. Pelosi has been a member of the House since 1987.

    She represents California’s 11th congressional district, which covers most of San Francisco. Pelosi holds the title of dean among California’s congressional delegation.

    Pelosi was born and raised in Baltimore. She is the daughter of Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., who served as mayor and congressman.

    What is Nancy Pelosi net worth?

    Nancy Pelosi’s estimated net worth is around $165 million, ranking her as one of the wealthiest members of Congress. However, it’s important to consider how assets are valued when examining these figures.

    Pelosi’s wealth mainly stems from her high congressional salary of $223,500, making her the highest-paid member of Congress.

    Additionally, she earns over $1 million annually from speaking engagements and other financial interests.

    Reports indicate that Pelosi’s net worth was nearly $115 million in 2018. Since then, her fortune has increased to approximately $300 million.

    This demonstrates her shrewd investment decisions and effective financial management.

    Nancy Pelosi Assets

    Nancy Pelosi owns approximately six houses, including a lavish villa in Pacific Heights, San Francisco, valued at $25 million, showcasing her wealth and influence.

    The villa boasts 10,000 square feet of space, with seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a swimming pool, a tennis court, and a movie theater.

    Inside, the luxury continues with a grand staircase featuring marble accents.Pelosi’s art collection is impressive, featuring works by renowned artists like Picasso, Warhol, and Van Gogh.

    She owns multiple real estate properties across major U.S. cities. Pelosi capitalized on the 2008 financial crisis, profiting from the federal bailout plan enacted for banks.

    Currently, Pelosi resides in her 15,000-square-foot luxury mansion in Baltimore, Maryland, purchased for an estimated $30 million. Some donors assisted in acquiring the property at a significant discount.

    Her home boasts luxury amenities such as a 15-foot wall, swimming pools, a workout lounge, 15 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms, a massive wine cellar, and a home theater.

    As Speaker of the House, Pelosi’s residence receives 24/7 Secret Service protection.

    Private Jets & Yachts

    Pelosi’s corruption is evident in her ownership of two personal jets—one gifted by a Wall Street group and the other purchased with campaign funds.

    Additionally, she possesses a luxury yacht, the majority of which was granted to her by wealthy associates.

    Financial Moves and Stocks

    One notable action taken by Nancy’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was investing their money in large tech firms like Apple and Microsoft.

    He utilized several significant options valued at $2.6 million. This decision proved to be a smart financial move, as these acquisitions have generated even more wealth, showcasing his adeptness in financial management.

    Nancy Pelosi owns over 20 real estate properties with a total worth exceeding $40 million.

    Additionally, she maintains a substantial stock portfolio, which includes shares in numerous top companies.

    Certain donors on Wall Street oversee Nancy Pelosi’s investment fund, providing her with over a 30% return each year.

    This fund, totaling $25 million in cash, stocks, and government bonds, is managed by these donors.

    As Speaker of the House, Pelosi holds stock in various companies such as Ford Motors, Walmart, Bank of America, Citigroup, Boeing, Pfizer, and Amazon, totaling more than $80 million.

    Critics blame Pelosi for her close ties to Wall Street.

    Both she and her husband engage in lobbying deals with wealthy businessmen, earning approximately $5 million per deal. Pelosi has accumulated over $100 million through lobbying throughout her lifetime.

    Nancy Pelosi Net Worth Growth

    Year Net Worth (Million)
    2024 $165
    2023 $153
    2022 $141
    2021 $130
    2020 $120
    2019 $115

     

  • Israel Says Iran Launched More Than 300 Drones And Missiles, 99% Of Which Were Intercepted

    Israel Says Iran Launched More Than 300 Drones And Missiles, 99% Of Which Were Intercepted

    By Jon Gambrell, AP.

    Booms and air raid sirens sounded across Israel early Sunday after Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. A military spokesman said the launches numbered more than 300 but 99% of them were intercepted.

    Calling the outcome “a very significant strategic success,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Iran fired 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles. Of those, several ballistic missiles reached Israeli territory, causing minor damage to an air base.

    Rescuers said a 7-year-old girl in a Bedouin Arab town was seriously wounded in southern Israel, apparently in a missile strike, though they said police were still investigating the circumstances of her injuries.

    In Washington, President Joe Biden said U.S. forces helped Israel down “nearly all” the drones and missiles and pledged to convene allies to develop a unified response.

    The Iranian attack, less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building, marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    Condemnation from the United Nations chief and others was swift, with France saying Iran “is risking a potential military escalation,” Britain calling the attack “reckless” and Germany saying Iran and its proxies “must stop it immediately.”

    Hagari said the vast majority of the intercepts came outside Israel’s borders, including 10 cruise missiles that were intercepted by warplanes.

    Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel, Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg)
    Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel, Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg)

    “A wide-scale attack by Iran is a major escalation,” he said. Asked whether Israel would respond, Hagari said only that the army “does and will do whatever is required to protect the security of the state of Israel.” He said the incident was not over, and dozens of Israeli warplanes remained in the skies.

    Israel’s military said its Arrow system, which shoots down ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere, handled most interceptions and noted that “strategic partners” were involved.

    “At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week,” Biden said in a statement. “Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our service members, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.”

    An Iranian demonstrator flashes a victory sign as he holds a model of a bullet during an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
    An Iranian demonstrator flashes a victory sign as he holds a model of a bullet during an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

    U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a separate statement that U.S. forces “intercepted dozens of missiles and UAVs en route to Israel, launched from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.”

    Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke early Sunday, Israeli time, their governments said. Biden said in his statement that he reaffirmed “America’s ironclad commitment” to Israel’s security — a departure from his growing criticism of Israel’s conduct in its war on Hamas in Gaza.

    IDF warns residents to stay near protective spaces until further notice

    Iran had vowed revenge since the April 1 airstrike in Syria, which Tehran accused Israel of being responsible for. Israel hasn’t commented on it.

    Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month war against Hamas militants in Gaza. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. An Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,000 people, according to local health officials.

    Almost immediately after the war erupted, Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon, began attacking Israel’s northern border. The two sides have been involved in daily exchanges of fire, while Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have launched rockets and missiles toward Israel.

    In a statement carried late Saturday by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged launching “dozens of drones and missiles towards the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.”

    In a later statement, the Revolutionary Guard issued a direct warning to the U.S.: “The terrorist U.S. government is warned any support or participation in harming Iran’s interests will be followed by decisive and regretting response by Iran’s armed forces.”

    IRNA also quoted an anonymous official saying ballistic missiles were part of the attack. A ballistic missile moves on an arch trajectory, heading up into space before gravity brings the weapon down at a speed several times faster than the speed of sound.

    Israel has a multilayered air-defense network that includes systems capable of intercepting a variety of threats including long-range missiles, cruise missiles, drones and short-range rockets. However, in a massive attack involving multiple drones and missiles, the likelihood of a strike making it through is higher.

    Iran has a vast arsenal of drones and missiles. Online videos shared by Iranian state television purported to show delta-wing-style drones resembling the Iranian Shahed-136s long used by Russia in its war on Ukraine. The slow-flying drones carry bombs. Ukraine has successfully used both surface-to-air missiles and ground fire to target them.

    Some Israelis watched the interceptions light up the night sky.

    Air raid sirens were reported in numerous places including northern Israel, southern Israel, the northern West Bank and the Dead Sea near the Jordanian border.

    Israel’s army ordered residents in the Golan Heights — near the Syrian and Lebanese borders — as well as the southern towns of Nevatim and Dimona and the Red Sea resort of Eilat into protective spaces. Dimona is home to Israel’s main nuclear facility, and Nevatim has a major air base. Loud booms were heard in Jerusalem and northern and southern Israel.

    The army’s Home Front Command canceled school Sunday and limited public gatherings to no more than 1,000 people. Israel and some other countries in the region closed their airspace.

    Earlier, Netanyahu warned: “Whoever harms us, we will harm them.”

    In Washington, Biden convened a principals meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the attack.

    Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, was in Israel over the weekend consulting with Israeli defense officials. The Central Command oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East.

    Iran’s mission to the United Nations issued a warning to both Israel and the U.S. “Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” it wrote online. “It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!”

    For days, Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had threatened to “slap” Israel for the Syria strike.

    In Iran’s capital, Tehran, witnesses saw long lines at gas stations early Sunday as people appeared worried about what may come next. Dozens of hard-liners demonstrated in support of the attack at Palestine Square.

    Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported heavy Israeli airstrikes and shelling on multiple locations in south Lebanon following Iran’s launch of drones. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched “dozens” of Katyusha rockets at an Israeli military site in the Golan Heights early Sunday. It was not immediately clear if there was any damage.

    Iranian missiles or drones were intercepted in the sky above the Jordanian capital, Amman. In Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, and elsewhere in the country, residents reported seeing missiles in the sky and hearing explosions, likely from interceptions. In Syria, explosions were heard in the capital, Damascus, and elsewhere. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian air defenses tried to shoot down Israeli attempts to intercept Iranian missiles.

  • Hamas Again Rejects Hostage Deal For Ceasefire With Israel

    Hamas Again Rejects Hostage Deal For Ceasefire With Israel

    Hamas has informed mediators that it rejects the latest U.S. proposal for a renewed hostages-for-ceasefire deal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources as saying that the terrorist organization intends to put forward a roadmap for a permanent end to the war.

    The U.S. offer would have seen Israel  release 900 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 40 hostages, along with a partial IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the unrestricted return of Palestinians to the northern part of the coastal enclave.

    The plan proposed that Hamas would release more hostages at a later stage following the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza.

    At the same time, Hamas is currently “unable to locate 40 hostages detained in the Gaza Strip” needed for the first stage of a hostage deal, an Israeli official with knowledge of the talks told CNN on Wednesday.

    A senior Israeli official familiar with the talks in Cairo told the Journal that Israel was open to using the U.S. proposal as a basis for talks and that a majority in the Cabinet would vote to back a deal.

    However, Israeli officials view the framework’s plan for the free movement of Palestinians in northern Gaza and the ratio of terrorists to hostages released as significant concessions to Hamas, the newspaper said.

    Indirect talks have been taking place in Cairo, Doha and Paris brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. for a temporary truce that would see the release of the captives still in the Strip.

    The Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea departed the Egyptian capital on Monday amid conflicting reports of progress in negotiations to free the remaining hostages.

    U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday expressed frustration with Hamas, saying Israel was prepared to move forward.

    Asked about President Joe Biden’s failure to secure a deal, Sullivan told reporters at a White House press briefing that “there could be a ceasefire in place today that would extend for several weeks to be built upon longer if Hamas would be prepared to release some of those people.”

    He added, “I believe Israel is ready and Hamas should step up to the table and be prepared to do so as well.”

    Officials in Jerusalem believe that the IDF withdrawal from Khan Yunis and the flood of humanitarian aid into Gaza have hurt the chances that Hamas will agree to a hostage release deal, Ynet reported Wednesday.

    “We gave up our strong cards for nothing,” the outlet quoted the Israeli sources as saying. “Hamas is digging in with its demands for an end to the war and a troop withdrawal, and is determined to play tricks with the mediators,” the sources continued.

    Speaking at a women’s event in Jordan late last month, Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal declared that the organization’s leadership is “waging a negotiating battle no less fierce” than the military conflict with the IDF, according to a readout of his remarks posted to Telegram by Hamas.

    “Inshallah [‘God willing’], we will defeat them in the field and in the negotiating battle,” said Mashaal, adding that the group is also fighting “intense battles” in the media and on the political battlefield.

    The terrorist leader reiterated that “in the negotiations, we insist on stopping the aggression, withdrawing from Gaza, returning the displaced to their places, especially in northern Gaza, providing all necessary relief, shelter and reconstruction, and ending the siege.

    “We will not release their prisoners [the hostages] until we achieve these goals,” Mashaal vowed.

  • There’s No Evidence Of Israel Committing Genocide In Gaza Strip, US Defense Chief Says

    There’s No Evidence Of Israel Committing Genocide In Gaza Strip, US Defense Chief Says

    The US does not believe Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, defense chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday.

    “We don’t have any evidence of genocide being created” in Gaza, Austin said at a Senate hearing on the Pentagon’s budget request.

    Austin reiterated that the US is committed to assisting Israel in defending its territory and people by providing security assistance.

    The defense chief also said a mass famine will accelerate violence and have the effect of ensuring that there is a long-term conflict.

    Washington encourages Tel Aviv to provide humanitarian assistance, open up more land routes and separate the Palestinian people from Hamas, said Austin.

    He also rejected accusations that he gave a green light to Israeli killings in Gaza, after which a group of protestors interrupted the hearing in solidarity with Palestine.

    Austin defended the US administration’s stance that Palestinians should get humanitarian aid when he was asked why Israel should have the responsibility to provide aid to Gaza by Sen. Tom Cotton, who said Israel was the victim of an unprovoked vicious attack on Oct. 7.

    “If they (Israelis) want to create a lasting effect and in terms of stability, then I think that something needs to be done to account or to help the Palestinian people,” said Austin.

    Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

    More than 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 76,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

    Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

  • Israel Is Fully Prepared For Potential War With Iran, Says Defense Minister

    Israel Is Fully Prepared For Potential War With Iran, Says Defense Minister

    Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Israel has completed its preparations to respond to any possible scenario against Iran days after Iran’s consular building in Damascus had been subjected to a bombing.

    This came in light of Israeli preparedness for Iran’s response to the assassination of several Revolutionary Guard officials in Damascus, according to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

    “The defense system has finished preparations for a response against any scenario that may develop with Iran,” said Gallant at an assessment conducted at the headquarters of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.

    At least seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals, were killed on April 1 in an attack on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus.

    Iran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and vowed to respond.

    Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack.

    The escalation in tensions came as Israel waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack in early October by Hamas killed less than 1,200 people.

    More than 33,100 Palestinians have since been killed and over 75,800 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

    Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

    The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

    Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

  • MP Admits To Involvement In A Gay ‘Honeytrap’ Sexting Scandal

    MP Admits To Involvement In A Gay ‘Honeytrap’ Sexting Scandal

    British lawmakers who may have been targeted in a sexting scam were urged Friday to go to police, after a senior Conservative admitted disclosing the personal phone numbers of some colleagues to an unknown individual who held “compromising” material on him.

    William Wragg, who chairs the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in Parliament, told The Times of London newspaper that he had handed over the phone numbers to a man he met on a gay dating app, after he had sent intimate pictures of himself.

    Wragg, 36, told The Times that the man had “compromising things” on him and he was “scared” and “manipulated” into giving his colleagues’ numbers to the unknown individual he had met on the gay dating app Grindr.

    “I gave them some numbers, not all of them,” he said. “I got chatting to a guy on an app and we exchanged pictures. We were meant to meet up for drinks, but then didn’t. Then he started asking for numbers of people. I was worried because he had stuff on me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, which doesn’t work now. I’ve hurt people by being weak. I was scared. I’m mortified.”

    Treasury minister Gareth Davies urged those affected to go to the police.

    “Will Wragg has rightly apologized for the action that he took, but I think it’s clear to anybody hearing about the situation that he was in, people react in different ways,” he told Sky News.

    The honeytrap sexting scam has been described as “spear phishing,” a type of cyber-attack that targets specific groups. It involves scammers pretending to be trusted senders in order to steal personal or sensitive information.

    Wragg’s revelation came after days of speculation, stoked by an article published in Politico, that a number of current and former parliamentarians had been contacted by an unknown number on WhatsApp, detailing prior meetings with politicians, in efforts to acquire personal or sensitive information. The report said some of those targeted were sent naked images, with at least two reported to have responded by sending images of themselves.

    “I would say to anyone watching this that if you ever feel like you’re in a compromised position, if you ever feel like you’re being blackmailed, then you should go to the police immediately because it’s an incredibly serious matter,” Davies added.

    Leicestershire Police in central England has confirmed that it is investigating a report of malicious communications after a number of unsolicited messages were sent to a local lawmaker last month.

    Tory MP, William Wragg/Google.

    Who is Tory MP William Wragg?

    As a senior member of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, William Wragg has seen many moments of political drama.

    He was one of the most prominent campaigners for Boris Johnson to quit over the Downing Street parties scandal and seemed to relish the bombshell of announcing to the Commons that he had submitted a letter expressing no confidence in Liz Truss.

    But now Wragg finds himself in the spotlight. Remorseful about his actions, he says he felt compelled to respond to the demands of a person he met on a gay dating app who bombarded him with requests for fellow MPs’ phone numbers. He planned to stand down anyway at the next general election, but now risks leaving parliament with a shadow over his record.

    Wragg arrived in Westminster fresh-faced and in his twenties. He once said that his “misspent youth was spent getting into parliament”. A former teacher, he took the seat of Hazel Grove in Stockport in 2015.

    He beat the Liberal Democrats and became the first Tory MP there since 1997.

    He shunned the ministerial ladder, instead preferring the role of scrutineer. Wragg took over as chairman of the public administration and constitutional affairs committee and enjoyed delving into the world of Whitehall.

    He reached a far more influential role as vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee — traditionally known as “the men in grey suits”. When a party leader needs telling their time is up, it is the 1922 Committee that does the job. Wragg was part of the collective of MPs who told a defiant Johnson that he had to go.

    He also accused Tory whips of blackmail and criticised plans to shield the former MP Owen Paterson from suspension for breaking lobbying rules.

    “It’s not simply the opposition who should provide scrutiny to government, it’s also the governing side who should be able to, in a very healthy way, do that,” Wragg told The Guardian last year.

    “Being a backbencher is an enormously liberated thing to be, if used accordingly. And I do feel for my colleagues who become ministers.”

    Now Wragg himself will come under scrutiny. A police investigation into reports of malicious communication is under way, which is likely to halt other inquiries.

    But the Commons standards commissioner may decide to open his own investigation once the police matter is dealt with. Similarly, the Tory whips will have to decide whether to continue to let him sit as a Conservative MP.

    When reflecting on why he decided to leave parliament at the age of 36, Wragg said he knew there was “a risk of being institutionalised”. Succumbing to the darker side of Westminster may suggest he has already left it too late.

    (Additional reporting by AP, The Times)