New York:

Actor George Clooney, one of the Democratic Party’s leading fundraisers, on Wednesday made an emotional and heartfelt plea for President Joe Biden to end his faltering reelection campaign.

Clooney — a member of the Hollywood elite that provides key support to the Democrats — joined a growing list of public figures calling for Biden, 81, to step aside after his terrible debate performance against Donald Trump last month.

“I love Joe Biden,” Clooney wrote in the New York Times. “I consider him a friend, and I believe in him… But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time.”

A self-described “lifelong Democrat,” Clooney co-hosted a star-studded fundraiser with Biden in Los Angeles only last month featuring former president Barack Obama.

The Biden campaign said that the event brought in a record $28 million.

“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote, referencing a famous hot-mic clip from Biden’s vice presidency.

“He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” Clooney said — a direct challenge to Biden’s claim that his poor debate showing was a one-off.

“The dam has broken” on Democratic lawmakers publicly calling for Biden to withdraw, Clooney said, asking more come forward.

“Top Democrats — Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.”

The Oscar-winner brushed aside worries that Biden’s exit would create chaos four months before an election in which the Democrats hope to keep Trump from power, and did not endorse a replacement candidate.

The party should hear from contenders such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and others, “then we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out,” he wrote.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

With just over six months left for the American general elections, some South Asian election activists are mobilizing to re-elect U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to the White House. The all-volunteer group, South Asians for Mr. Biden, kicked off its activities for the election season with a virtual event held on April 25 that featured messages from lawmakers and functionaries of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and focused on issues such as reproductive rights and gun control.

The group, like other groups working in this space, is motivated by the idea that South Asian populations in battleground States had exceeded the margins of victory for Democrats in previous election cycles (2020 and 2021 for example). This makes South Asians, like other Asian American and Pacific Islander groups (AAPI or  AANHNPI to include Native Hawaiians ), a potential deciding factor in who wins in battleground states.

 In a close election, such as the 2020 race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden,  winning swing states could be key to winning the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. However, Democrats and Republicans are focused not just on the Biden v Trump rematch this year but also other ‘down ballot’ races –  crucial Senate and House seats as well as contests for  state offices.  

South Asians for Biden had reached out to  a few hundred thousand South Asian and AAPI voters directly and via its digital and video campaigns in 2020 and 2021, according to Neha Dewan, National Co-Director of the group. Ms Dewan listed the group’s outreach in States such as Georgia and Wisconsin where Mr Biden won by wafer-thin margins ( around 12,000 votes in Georgia for example).

During the virtual event, titled, ‘Mobilizing the South Asian Community to be the Margin of Victory’, Ms Dewan highlighted the work of the Biden administration in areas she said were of importance to the community : reproductive rights (e.g., women’s access to contraception and abortion), curbing gun violence and hate crimes against Asian Americans.

“I know that the calls that were made into Georgia and into Wisconsin, were beyond the winning margin,” said Principal Deputy Campaign Manager for Biden-Harris 2024, Quentin Fulks, in a recorded video message.

The AAPI vote was 4% of the electorate in Georgia, and an important part of the margin (just under 3%) that got Senator Raphael Warnock re-elected the Senate (December 2022), Mr Fulks said. Democrats retained control (51-49) of the U.S. Senate with Mr Warnock – who initially came to the chamber after winning a partial term in 2020 – getting elected for full term in the 118th Congress that began in 2023.

“It’s going to take all of us again in 2024 to make sure that we hit 270 electoral votes,” Mr Fulks said.

The majority of U.S. born and foreign-born Indian Americans lean towards the Democratic Party (as per 2020 data), a statistic the group appears to capitalise on. One of the speakers at the virtual event, Washington (State)  Democrat, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal cited data to support the view that South Asian social and political priorities were aligned with those of the Biden-Harris platform.

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ro Khanna, an Indian American California Democrat emphasized that South Asian voters were critical  to electoral victories  in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona. Mr Biden won the electoral college votes in each of these States in 2020.

“We were key to President Biden and Vice President Harris’s 2020 historic win. We need to mobilize again,” he said.

Mr Khanna, whose constituency includes a part of Silicon Valley,  highlighted his involvement with the CHIPS and Science Act, one of the Biden administration’s big ticket policies aimed at increasing semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. (Mr Khanna was one of the lawmakers who introduced one of the  two pieces of legislation that later went on to become the Act).

“There are so many South Asians involved in creating good jobs and Arizona, in upstate New York, in Ohio, as a result of that act,” he said.

Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) AAPI Caucus Bel Leong Hong described the 2024 elections in existential terms.

“We are fighting for a place for us to be in, we are fighting to be who we are,” she said.

Democrats rallying around abortion rights and gun control

Issues important to South Asian Americans – especially reproductive rights, voting rights and gun violence – featured repeatedly through the event. This mirrors the overall approach of Democrats – starting at the top with Mr Biden and Ms Harris – to rally voters, especially women, will who would otherwise have not voted or voted for Mr Trump, to vote for Mr Biden.

Anita Somani, a physician who is a representative in the Ohio State Assembly had a message about voting officials in who would  protect reproductive rights.

Abortion and — more broadly — reproductive rights, have been a key electoral issue, especially since June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a judgement that broadly protected a woman’s right to have an abortion. With reproductive rights becoming a state issue since the judgement was overturned, a number of States have enacted measures to protect these rights, with Ohio residents voting in November 2023 to do the same.  

“Imagine that kids are now the experts on how to dodge bullets while sitting at their desks are walking to the corner store,” said Shikha Hamilton,  the parent of bi-cultural Indian and Black daughter , who has worked for over two decades on gun violence prevention.

Anita Somani, a physician who is a representative in the Ohio State Assembly had a message about voting officials in who would  protect reproductive rights.

Editorial | Square one: On the 2024 U.S. Presidential election as a Biden-Trump rematch

Ballot access is an issue

Battle lines this year are also drawn around voting rights with a number of Republican governed states passing tightening access to the ballot. Last year (data as of October) at least 14 States had passed laws making it harder to vote while 23 had made it easier to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

At the South Asians for Biden re-launch, Gen Z candidate for Georgia State Senate, Aswhin Ramaswami, a former election security official, discussed the growing legislative challenges to voting in Georgia. The 24 year old is  running against State Senator Shawn Still, who was indicted, along with Mr Trump and others, for illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Americans will elect the next President of the United Sates, as well as a number of U.S. Senators and Congressmen, State governors and local officials on November 5 this year.

President Joe Biden speaks before signing a $95 billion Ukraine aid package that also includes support for Israel, Taiwan, and other allies, in the State Dining Room of the White House on April 24, 2024, in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to send fresh weapons to Ukraine within days as he prepared to sign on April 24 an aid package including $61 billion meant to help Kyiv’s forces push back against Russia.

Congress approved on Tuesday the long-delayed legislation, which also contained a measure to ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media app does not cut ties with its Chinese parent company.

Days after the Republican-led House of Representatives cleared the aid — part of a larger $95 billion package of assistance to allies including Israel and Taiwan — the Democratic-controlled Senate followed suit, passing it with bipartisan support on a 79-18 vote.

“I will sign this bill into law and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week,” Mr. Biden said in a statement shortly after the vote.

Also Read | Pentagon to give Ukraine $300 million in weapons even as it lacks funds to replenish U.S. stockpile

Passage of the bill, which also provides much-needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Sudan and Haiti, comes after months of acrimonious debate among lawmakers over how or even whether to help Ukraine defend itself.

A similar aid package passed the Senate in February, but had been stalled in the House while Republican Speaker Mike Johnson — heeding calls from ex-president Donald Trump and his hardline allies — demanded concessions from Mr. Biden on immigration policies, before a sudden reversal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited Washington in December to plead for fresh aid, quickly thanked U.S. lawmakers for passing the bill, saying on social media that he looked “forward to the bill being signed soon and the next military aid package matching the resoluteness that I always see in our negotiations.”

“Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, artillery, and air defense are critical tools for restoring just peace sooner,” Zelensky added.

Mr. Biden said the bill’s approval showed the United States stood “resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression,” while the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said it sent a message that the United States “will not turn our back on you.”

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the U.S. aid would make little difference on the front line.

“All the new batches of weapons are already surely ready and will not change the dynamics on the front,” Mr. Peskov told reporters.

The United States has been the chief military backer of Ukraine in its war against Russia, but Congress had not approved large-scale funding for its ally for nearly a year and a half.

The financing of the war has become a point of contention ahead of a presidential election in November that is expected to pit Mr. Biden against Mr. Trump once again.

Aid ‘within days’

A Pentagon spokesperson told reporters Tuesday it could deliver fresh aid to Ukraine “within days.”

Ukraine’s military is facing a severe shortage of weapons and recruits as Moscow exerts constant pressure from the east.

Frontline circumstances are expected to worsen in the coming weeks, with Ukrainian intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov predicting a “rather difficult situation” beginning in mid-May.

The debate over Ukraine assistance has highlighted wide divisions between Democrats and Republicans in Congress — but it has also revealed deep fissures within the conservative movement ahead of the November elections.

While some hardline Republicans have been wary of sending funds overseas, Mr. Biden and the Democrats frame Ukraine aid as an investment in U.S. security against Russian aggression.

The Ukraine bill also allows Washington to confiscate and sell Russian assets and provide the money to Kyiv to finance reconstruction, a move that has been embraced by other G7 nations.

Kyiv has stepped up aerial attacks on Russian energy facilities over recent weeks in the hopes of crippling Moscow’s ability to attack Ukrainian cities or gain more ground in the industrial east.

Ukrainian drones attacked oil facilities in western Russia overnight, defence sources in Kyiv confirmed Wednesday, in the latest aerial assault by Kyiv aiming to dent Russian military logistics.

President Joe Biden said as the new crescent moon marks the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, he and the First Lady extend their best wishes and prayers to Muslims across the U.S. and around the world. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Greeting the Muslim community across the world on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, U.S. President Joe Biden on March 10 reiterated that the United States will continue working non-stop to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire for at least six weeks as part of a deal that releases hostages.

“While we get more life-saving aid to Gaza, the United States will continue working non-stop to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire for at least six weeks as part of a deal that releases hostages. And we will continue building toward a long-term future of stability, security, and peace. That includes a two-state solution to ensure Palestinians and Israelis share equal measures of freedom, dignity, security, and prosperity. That is the only path toward an enduring peace,” Mr. Biden said.

Also Read | Netanyahu ‘hurting Israel’ by not doing more to avert civilian deaths in Gaza: Biden

The United States will continue to lead international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance into Gaza by land, air, and sea, he said.

“Earlier this week, I directed our military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments of aid. We are carrying out airdrops of aid, in coordination with our international partners, including Jordan. And we’ll continue to work with Israel to expand deliveries by land, insisting that it facilitate more routes and open more crossings to get more aid to more people,” Mr. Biden said.

In a message, Mr. Biden said as the new crescent moon marks the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, he and the First Lady extend their best wishes and prayers to Muslims across the U.S. and around the world.

“The sacred month is a time for reflection and renewal. This year, it comes at a moment of immense pain. The war in Gaza has inflicted terrible suffering on the Palestinian people. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians, including thousands of children. Some are family members of American Muslims, who are deeply grieving their lost loved ones today,” he said.

“Nearly two million Palestinians have been displaced by the war; many are in urgent need of food, water, medicine, and shelter. As Muslims gather around the world over the coming days and weeks to break their fast, the suffering of the Palestinian people will be front of mind for many. It is front of mind for me,” said the U.S. President.

Mr. Biden noted that in the U.S. they have seen an “appalling resurgence” of hate and violence towards Muslim Americans. Islamophobia has absolutely no place in the United States, a country founded on freedom of worship and built on the contributions of immigrants, including Muslim immigrants, Mr. Biden said.

“My administration is developing the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination, to take on hate against Muslims, Sikhs, South Asians, and Arab American communities, wherever it occurs. No one should ever fear being targeted at school, at work, on the street, or in their community because of their background or beliefs,” he said.

“To Muslims across our country, please know that you are deeply valued members of our American family. To those who are grieving during this time of war, I hear you, I see you, and I pray you find solace in your faith, family, and community. And to all who are marking the beginning of Ramadan tonight, I wish you a safe, healthy, and blessed month. Ramadan kareem,” Mr. Biden said.

U.S. President Joe Biden on March 5 called on Hamas to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while the Palestinian militant group warned talks for a truce and hostage release cannot go on “indefinitely”.

As famine threatens Gazans, U.S. and Jordanian planes again airdropped food aid into the besieged territory of 2.4 million people in a joint operation with Egypt and France.

Bombing and fighting in the war sparked by the October 7 attack killed another 97 people in Gaza, said the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, where Israel said its jets had struck 50 targets over the past day.

In Cairo, U.S. and Hamas envoys were meeting Egyptian and Qatari mediators in protracted negotiations to end the fighting and free hostages before Ramadan starts on March 10 or 11.

Egypt’s Al-Qahera News, which is close to the country’s intelligence services, said the talks were “ongoing” and would continue for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday.

The parties in Egypt — so far excluding Israel — have discussed a plan for a six-week truce, the exchange of dozens of hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and increased aid into Gaza.

Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Beirut, said the Islamist group would “not allow the path of negotiations to be open indefinitely”.

Mr. Biden warned Hamas to agree to a Gaza ceasefire by Ramadan, after his top diplomat, Antony Blinken, urged it to accept an “immediate ceasefire”.

“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now,” the U.S. president told reporters.

“There’s got to be a ceasefire because Ramadan — if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous.”

Also read | U.N. envoy says ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe Hamas committed sexual violence on October 7

He did not elaborate, but the United States last week urged Israel to allow Muslims to worship at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during Ramadan.

The Israeli government said later that it would allow Muslim worshippers to access Al-Aqsa during Ramadan “in similar numbers to those in previous years”.

‘We want to eat and live’

As conditions in Gaza deteriorate, Israel has also faced increasingly sharp rebukes from Washington.

Vice President Kamala Harris had expressed “deep concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza” during talks on Monday with war cabinet member Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

American cargo planes airdropped more than 36,000 meals into Gaza Tuesday in a joint operation with Jordan, which said French and Egyptian planes also took part.

The United Nations has warned famine is “almost inevitable” in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli media reported, meanwhile, that the country’s negotiating team had so far boycotted the Cairo talks after Hamas had failed to provide it with a list of the living hostages.

Israel has said it believes 130 of the original 250 captives remain in Gaza, but that 31 have been killed.

Senior Hamas leader Bassem Naim told AFP on Monday that the group did not know “who among them are alive or dead, killed because of strikes or hunger”, and that the captives were being held by “numerous groups in multiple places”.

He said that, in order for all of them to be located, “a ceasefire is necessary”.

The war started with Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed 30,631 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.

Fighting raged on in Gaza, with Hamas officials reporting dozens of Israeli air strikes near the European Hospital in Hamad City, in the main southern city of Khan Yunis.

Khan Yunis residents said decomposing bodies were lying in streets lined with destroyed homes and shops.

“We want to eat and live,” said Nader Abu Shanab, pointing to the rubble with blackened hands.

“Take a look at our homes. How am I to blame, a single, unarmed person without any income in this impoverished country?”

Israel-U.N. tensions

The U.N. World Health Organization said an aid mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza had found children dying of starvation.

“The lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

On Tuesday, the WHO estimated at least 8,000 Gaza patients needed evacuating for treatment, which would relieve pressure on the few functioning hospitals.

Tensions between Israel and the United Nations flared on Monday, with Israel recalling its ambassador over the handling of allegations of sexual assault during the October attack.

Israel accused the U.N. of taking too long to respond to the claims, as the world body published a report that said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” rapes were committed and that hostages taken to Gaza had also faced sexual violence.

“In most of these incidents, victims first subjected to rape were then killed, and at least two incidents relate to the rape of women’s corpses,” the report said.

Shortly before the report’s release, Israel said it was recalling its ambassador Gilad Erdan over what it said was an attempt by the U.N. to “silence” reports of sexual violence by Hamas.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesman denied trying to suppress the report.

The war has sparked violence across the region, including near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, who urged a diplomatic solution during a Beirut visit Monday, met with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv.

Mr. Gallant told Mr. Hochstein on Tuesday that Israel was committed to the diplomatic process but “emphasised that Hezbollah’s aggression is dragging the parties to a dangerous escalation”, his office said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President Joe Biden is doing everything he can to improve the H1B visa process, ‘green card’ backlog and other issues related to the country’s legal immigration system, the White House has said.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

“One of the steps, if we look at the H1B visa process, we have taken action to improve that and the process and backlog for lawful permanent residents (green card) who are eligible to become U.S. citizens,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference on Wednesday.

She was responding to questions about the feeling among a section of Indian Americans that the President is not putting as much effort on addressing the woes of legal immigrants as he is doing for illegal immigrants.

Mr. Biden heads to the southern border with Mexico in Texas on Thursday.

“Just last month, for example, as a part of our efforts to strengthen the integrity of our immigration system and reduce potential for fraud, the DHS published a final rule relating to H1B visa,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

“So, the changes promote fairer and more equitable outcomes and, so, we will continue our work to improve the system within our authorities and that has certainly been a priority,” she said and added that the administration takes that “very seriously” and is continuing to do everything that it can to improve the visa process.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the launch of myUSCIS organisational accounts that will allow multiple people within an organisation, as well as their legal representatives, to collaborate on and prepare H1B registrations, H-1B petitions and any associated Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service.

A new organisational account is required to participate in the H1B Electronic Registration Process starting in March 2024, the USCIS said. 

“We are working expeditiously to address any technical issues that may arise for legal representatives whose accounts migrated when they logged into their online account on or after February 14, 2024, including impacts on cases other than H1B filings,” it said.

The initial registration period for FY 2025 H1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 6, and run through noon Eastern on March 22.

During this period, prospective petitioners and their representatives, if applicable, must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated registration fee for each beneficiary, its media alert said.   

Starting with the FY 2025 initial registration period, USCIS will require registrants to provide valid passport information or valid travel document information for each beneficiary.

The passport or travel document provided must be the one the beneficiary, if or when abroad, intends to use to enter the US if issued an H1B visa. Each beneficiary must only be registered under one passport or travel document.

“In March, we will launch online filing of Form I-129 and associated Form I-907 for non-cap H1B petitions. On April 1, USCIS will begin accepting online filing for H1B cap petitions and associated Forms I-907 for petitioners whose registrations have been selected,” the federal agency said.

To help guide organisations and legal representatives through the new process, the USCIS had launched the Tech Talks sessions in February 2024. During these sessions, individuals can ask questions about the organisational accounts and online filing of Form I-129 for H1B petitions.

The USCIS encourages all individuals involved in the H1B registration and petition filing process to attend these sessions. Additional information and dates are available on the Upcoming National Engagements page, it said.

The Biden administration on Monday designated 31 technology hubs spread across 32 states and Puerto Rico to help spur innovation and create jobs.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Biden administration on Monday designated 31 technology hubs spread across 32 states and Puerto Rico to help spur innovation and create jobs in the industries that are concentrated in these areas.

“We’re going to invest in critical technologies like biotechnology, critical materials, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing — so the U.S. will lead the world again in innovation across the board,” President Joe Biden said. “I truly believe this country is about to take off.”

The tech hubs are the result of a process that the Commerce Department launched in May to distribute a total of $500 million in grants to cities.

The $500 million came from a $10 billion authorization in last year’s CHIPS and Science Act to stimulate investments in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotech. It’s an attempt to expand tech investment that is largely concentrated around a few U.S. cities — Austin, Texas; Boston; New York; San Francisco; and Seattle — to the rest of the country.

“I have to say, in my entire career in public service, I have never seen as much interest in any initiative than this one,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters during a Sunday conference call to preview the announcement. Her department received 400 applications, she said.

“No matter where I go or who I meet with — CEOs, governors, senators, congresspeople, university presidents — everyone wants to tell me about their application and how excited they are,” said Raimondo.

The program, formally the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program, ties into the president’s economic argument that people should be able to find good jobs where they live and that opportunity should be spread across the country, rather than be concentrated. The White House has sought to elevate that message and highlight Biden’s related policies as the Democratic president undertakes his 2024 reelection bid.

The 31 tech hubs reach Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Montana, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas, Maryland, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Minnesota, Louisiana, Idaho, Wyoming, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New York, Nevada, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, Ohio, Maine, Washington and Puerto Rico.

President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Washington. The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip have carried out an unprecedented, multifront attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States on Saturday condemned the attacks by “Hamas terrorists” against Israel and vowed to ensure the key U.S. ally has the means to defend itself.

President Joe Biden described the assault as “a terrible tragedy on a human level” and said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to underline his support.

“I told him the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House.

“In my administration, support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.

“We’ll make sure that they have the help their citizens need and they can continue to defend themselves.”

As the attacks threatened to trigger a wider conflict, Biden also warned “this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. The world is watching.”

Biden stressed that Israel — which the United States has supplied with billions of dollars of arms — has “a right to defend itself” after the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas launched air, sea and land strikes.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed Washington’s commitment, saying “over the coming days the Department of Defense will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs.”

Meanwhile, top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken spoke with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas — whose West Bank-based Fatah movement is a rival to Hamas — and “called on all leadership in the region to condemn” the attack on Israel.

Former president Donald Trump weighed in, blaming Biden, without evidence, for indirectly funding the attacks.

“These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force,” Trump said in a statement.

“Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration.”

Trump’s allegations reflected Republican claims that $6 billion released last month to Iran as part of a prisoner exchange deal was used to fund the Hamas attack.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said on social media that “this is a shameful lie in every respect, at a time when both parties should be totally united in supporting Israel’s defense.”

The money “can only be used for verifiable purchases of humanitarian needs like food & medicine,” Bates added, in a fierce pushback against the claims.

Israel normalized relations decades ago with neighboring Egypt and Jordan and in 2020 added three more Arab states to the list — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco — in what Trump considered his towering foreign policy achievement.

The so-called “Abraham Accords” also included sweeteners from Trump, including a promise to sell jets to the United Arab Emirates.

“We brought so much peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, only to see Biden whittle it away at a far more rapid pace than anyone thought possible,” Trump, who plans to stand against Biden in the 2024 election, said.

Before Saturday’s assault, Biden had been hoping to transform the Middle East — and score a pre-election diplomatic victory — by securing recognition of the Jewish state by Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Saturday that “this unprecedented and brutal attack by Hamas is not only supported by Iran, it was designed to stop peace efforts between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“A peace agreement between those two nations would be a nightmare for Iran and Hamas.”

“It would serve Israel and the world well to respond to this outrage by launching an operation that will destroy the Hamas organization — not just contain it,” he added.

Hamas is backed by Iran, a foe of Israel, with Iran’s supreme leader declaring he was “proud” of Saturday’s attacks.

Biden has had recently rocky relations with Netanyahu, publicly criticizing him for overhauling Israel’s judiciary, a step seen by opponents as undermining democracy.

U.S. President Joe Biden joins striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on the picket line outside the GM’s Willow Run Distribution Center, in Belleville, Wayne County, Michigan on U.S., September 26, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to stand on a picket line on September 26, joining striking auto workers in Michigan in a bold pitch for blue collar votes against likely election rival Donald Trump.

Wearing a United Auto Workers (UAW) union baseball cap, the Democrat used a bullhorn to tell red-shirted employees they deserved “a hell of a lot more than what you’re getting.”

His short but symbolic trip came a day before Republican former president Mr. Trump visits Michigan, the historic heart of the U.S. car industry and a key battleground for the 2024 election campaign.

“They’re doing incredibly well and guess what, you should be doing incredibly well too,” Mr. Biden said to cheers from placard-waving union members.

Sporting a blue zip-up top with a presidential seal, Mr. Biden urged automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis to “step up for us.”

Mr. Biden then shook hands with union workers, closely watched by Secret Service agents, and agreed when asked if employees should get a 40% increase.

“It meant a lot,” said Carolyn Nippa, 51, an inventory control employee at the GM plant after she fist-bumped the U.S. president.

“It’s very historic.”

‘Stand up with workers’

The autoworkers strike that began on September 15 has increasingly become a political football for Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump as they head for a probable rematch next year.

Mr. Biden’s trip was designed to trumpet his pro-union credentials amid growing concerns about his poll ratings, his age and his struggles to get his economic message across.

The White House played up the historic element, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressing it was the “first time a sitting president has visited a picket line in modern times.”

Mr. Biden’s trip also went down well with unions, whose support was crucial when he beat Mr. Trump in 2020.

The UAW’s outspoken chief Shawn Fain, who invited Mr. Biden to Detroit, greeted him on the tarmac and rode with him to the picket line in the presidential limousine dubbed “The Beast.”

“Our president chose to stand up with workers,” Mr. Fain, whose union is pushing the car makers for better pay and conditions, told the crowd.

Mr. Trump meanwhile is hoping to woo back working-class voters, who propelled the right-wing populist to the White House in 2016 on the back of his promise to restore American industry, but then largely flipped to Mr. Biden.

The wealthy property tycoon’s own links with the unions are more difficult, and the car parts plant Mr. Trump is visiting on the other side of Detroit on Wednesday is non-union.

“We would not consider that standing in solidarity if you are going to a non-union shop while a strike is going on,” said a UAW source.

‘Stick with it’ 

Instead, Mr. Trump has focused on attacking what he called Mr. Biden’s “draconian” push to fund a shift to more environmentally friendly electric vehicles, saying it is driving jobs to China.

“Crooked Joe should be ashamed to show his face before these hardworking Americans he is stabbing in the back,” the 77-year-old said in a statement Tuesday, using his usual epithet for the president.

Mr. Trump, who’s skipping a Republican candidates’ debate on Wednesday to focus on Michigan instead, also accused Mr. Biden of copying his plans to visit the state.

Mr. Biden says his push on electric vehicles is part of a plan to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and lead a global race to develop green technology.

For all that, his “Bidenomics” message is failing to get through to voters.

An ABC News-Washington Post poll sent shivers up Democrats’ spines on Sunday when it showed Mr. Trump beating Mr. Biden 52% to 42% in a head-to-head match-up.

And while other polls have put them roughly even, Mr. Biden’s approval ratings remain stubbornly low, particularly on the economy where high prices are blotting out good jobs numbers.

But Mr. Biden’s message to doubters appears to be the same as it was to the striking workers in Michigan: “Folks, stick with it.”

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy delivers a statement on allegations surrounding U.S. President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden as the House of Representatives returns from its summer break facing a looming deadline to avoid a government shutdown while spending talks continue on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on September 12, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Republican U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on September 12 called for an impeachment inquiry into Democratic President Joe Biden encouraged by his party’s right flank — a move certain to further divide lawmakers as they struggle to passing legislation to avoid a government shutdown.

“I am directing our House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters.

Many in Mr. McCarthy’s party were infuriated when the House, then controlled by Democrats, twice impeached Republican President Donald Trump — in 2019 and 2021 — though he was acquitted both times in the Senate.

Mr. Biden, who defeated Mr. Trump in the 2020 election, is seeking re-election next year. Republicans, who now narrowly control the House, have accused Mr. Biden of profiting while he served as vice president from 2009 to 2017 from his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business ventures, though they have not presented substantiation.

A former business associate of the younger Biden told an House hearing that Hunter Biden sold the “illusion” of access to power while his father was vice president, according to a transcript released last month.

The White House has said there is no basis for an investigation and Mr. Biden has mocked Republicans over a possible impeachment.

Democrats have sought to portray Republican impeachment talk as an effort to distract public attention from the legal woes of Mr. Trump, who faces four separate criminal indictments while running for his party’s nomination to face Mr. Biden in the 2024 U.S. election.

Mr. Trump has pressed Republicans to try to remove Mr. Biden from office. Several hard-right Republicans have said they will not vote for must-pass spending bills unless Mr. McCarthy greenlights an impeachment inquiry.

The U.S. Constitution empowers Congress to impeach federal officials including the president for treason, bribery and “other high crimes and misdemeanors.” A president can be removed from office if the House approves articles of impeachment by a simple majority and the Senate votes by a two-thirds majority to convict after holding a trial.

Any Biden impeachment effort would be unlikely to succeed. Even if the Republican-controlled House votes to impeach Mr. Biden — an uncertain prospect, given the party’s narrow 222-212 vote margin — it would almost certainly fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Mr. Trump is the only U.S. president to have been impeached twice. He was acquitted both times after trials in the Senate thanks to votes by his fellow Republicans that prevented the chamber from achieving the two-thirds majority needed for conviction.

In his first impeachment, the House in 2019 charged Mr. Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after he asked Ukraine to investigate Mr. Biden and his son on unsubstantiated corruption accusations. In his second impeachment, the House impeached him in 2021 on a charge of inciting an insurrection following the attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

The first impeachment sought to remove him from office. The second, with a trial held after he left office, sought to disqualify Mr. Trump from ever again holding the presidency.

Mr. Trump, as he has done with many investigations into his actions, called both impeachments politically motivated witch hunts.

Mr. Biden in July mocked Republican lawmakers threatening to impeach him.

“Republicans may have to find something else to criticise me for now that inflation is coming down. Maybe they’ll decide to impeach me because it’s coming down. I don’t know. I’d love that one,” Mr. Biden said at the time.