Several of her supporters, however, said that Imaan Mazari has been punished for raising voice for human rights in the country….reports Asian Lite News
Leading Pakistani human rights lawyer, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, daughter of former Pakistan minister Shireen Mazari, was arrested by Islamabad Police on Monday along with her husband for what the authorities described as “creating a security risk” during England cricket team’s tour of the country, last week.
“Imaan Mazari has been arrested this morning. State fascism in full swing,” Shireen Mazari posted on X after her daughter’s arrest describing Islamabad Police’s action as “shameful coward”.
Several of her supporters, however, said that Imaan Mazari has been punished for raising voice for human rights in the country.
Local reports cited that Imaan Mazari and her husband had engaged in a scuffle with the traffic policemen in the Pakistani capital on October 25 as protocols were put in place during the movement of the England cricket team for the last Test match played at the Rawalpindi cricket stadium.
Due to the movement of the cricket teams, traffic was stopped and diverted at several places, including the Srinagar Highway, Murree Road, and Naith Avenue.
After an incident at the Islamabad Zero Point Interchange, Islamabad police accused the couple of “interfering in the government’s matters and jeopardising the security of state guests” by breaking the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of state guests.
However, Shireen Mazari insisted on Monday that it were the local policemen which had swung the steel road barrier deliberately in the way of Imaan.
“They assaulted, as videos show, and injured her. Who will hold the police accountable for terrorism?” questioned the former human rights minister.
Last year, the prominent Pakistani human rights lawyer was arrested for calling the Pakistani military as “real terrorists” following the May 9 riots triggered by the arrest of the former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“You are being stopped, as if you are terrorists while the real terrorists are sitting in General Headquarters (GHQ),” Imaan Mazari had said during a rally.
Her mother, Shireen Mazari – a senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader – was also arrested several times during the violent protests.
Imaan Mazari had also represented Ahmad Farhad, the Kashmiri journalist and poet, who was abducted by the Pakistani intelligence agencies ISI from Islamabad, earlier this year.
On Monday, Farhad slammed the Pakistani authorities and termed his lawyer’s arrest as “condemnable and shameful”.
“The arrest of Iman Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatta is condemnable and shameful. Iman and Hadi are being punished for raising their voice for human rights and fighting the cases of missing persons including me,” he posted on X.
In the predominantly Black area of West Philadelphia, Harris met residents at the Philly Cuts barber shop and visited the historic Hakim’s Bookstore & Gift Shop…reports Asian Lite News
In the final days of an intensely close U.S. presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris hit the streets of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city and a key battleground, engaging directly with voters in a grassroots push for support
Her campaign efforts, aimed at securing critical votes in a state that could decide the election, brought her through a diverse range of Philadelphia neighbourhoods on Sunday.
In the predominantly Black area of West Philadelphia, Harris met residents at the Philly Cuts barber shop and visited the historic Hakim’s Bookstore & Gift Shop.
Connecting with voters on a personal level, she embraced local patrons, held babies, and even quoted scripture at the Church of Christian Compassion, where she encouraged early voting and civic engagement.
Her approach was both intimate and hands-on, emphasizing the importance of each vote in the high-stakes election.
Philadelphia native Myrda Scott, who runs a financial firm, shared her appreciation for Harris’s on-the-ground approach, noting that Philadelphians value face-to-face interaction with their leaders.
At a community rally, Scott highlighted how Harris’s presence resonates with locals, while other residents like Rosa Jones expressed some nervousness about the election outcome despite her support for Harris.
In the working-class Puerto Rican neighbourhood, Harris visited Freddy and Tony’s Restaurant, meeting voters and sharing photos, where locals appreciated her efforts to connect on a personal level.
Closing remarks: Harris in Washington, Trump in NY
Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen the Ellipse in Washington DC as the venue for her campaign’s closing argument on Tuesday as former President Donald Trump returns to New York, his former hometown, for his final pitch.
Harris’s choice of the Ellipse on the ground of the US Capitol, which is home to the US Congress, is intended to serve as a reminder to American voters of a rally Trump addressed there on January 6, 2021.
From the rally, his supporters had marched on to the US Capitol in a bid to prevent a joint sitting of the two chambers from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election and the next president.
“On Tuesday, October 29, with just one week until election day, Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a major closing argument address in Washington on the Ellipse,” the campaign said in a coverage guidance for media on Saturday.
Harris will use the venue to reinforce one of her campaign’s key issues, that the former president presents a threat to democracy and the constitution. She called him a “fascist” in a recent town hall hosted by CNN.
The former president has bristled at being called a threat to democracy and has blamed these allegations as the reason for the two assassination attempts on him.
“They’re saying I’m a threat to democracy,” he has said. “They would say that as it is the standard line, just keep saying it, and you know that can get assassins or potential assassins going. That’s a terrible thing … Maybe that bullet is because of their rhetoric.”
Trump’s own closing argument later Sunday is likely to reinforce key issues of his campaign — economy and immigration. But the choice of venue is interesting — Madison Square Garden, the stadium that is known to host major sporting events, concerts and in 2014 a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This epic event, in the heart of President Trump’s home city, will be a showcase of the historic political movement that President Trump has built in the final days of the campaign,” the Trump campaign said in an announcement on Friday.
Trump was born and raised in New York City and lived and thrived there until he moved to Washington DC after his election in 2016. After leaving the White House in January 2021, he has lived in his Mar-a-Lago club resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump’s strong statement tinged by a colloquial vulgarity was in keeping with his theme of asserting that he would reclaim America’s greatness which he said had been devalued by Biden and Harris…reports Asian Lite News
In a confrontation with China, “we will kick their ass”, Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has said at a campaign rally, asserting, “We have the greatest military in the world”.
Speaking out against what he asserted was the weakening of respect for the US under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, he said on Sunday, “A report that they issued that if we end up in a war with China, we cannot win. We’re not strong enough”.
“We have the greatest military in the world,” he declared.
“You don’t put out reports like that – and it’s not true. We would kick their ass,” he said.
Even “assuming that’s true, how stupid are you to put out a report like that,” he said. He did not say which report he was referring to, but it was likely a report from the Commission on the National Defence Strategy to the Senate Armed Services earlier this year.
It said, “The Commission finds that the US military lacks both the capabilities and the capacity required to be confident it can deter and prevail in combat” and that “in many ways, China is outpacing the United States and has largely negated the US military advantage in the Western Pacific”.
Trump’s strong statement tinged by a colloquial vulgarity was in keeping with his theme of asserting that he would reclaim America’s greatness which he said had been devalued by Biden and Harris.
Donald Trump
“If we win, our enemies won’t be laughing anymore,” Trump said
The Madison Square Garden was packed to its capacity of about 19,000 about 90 minutes before his campaign rally was to begin, and thousands were left stranded outside after waiting for hours to get in and watched him on giant screens.
Inside, whipped to bouts of frenzy, the crowd punctuated his speech with screams of, “USA, USA”, and “Four more years”.
Although most of his nearly 90-minute speech focused on immigration and inflation, he presented himself as the keeper of world order.
His 2016 Democratic Party rival Hillary Clinton, he said, had warned that he would start World War III, but he was the first president in 82 years not to have launched a foreign military intervention.
He said that if he were the president, Russia would not have invaded Ukraine or Hamas attacked Israel.
He said he got along with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and other adversaries.
“Ukraine was the apple of his (Putin’s) eye, but I said, Vladimir, don’t go in,” Trump said.
On foreign trade, he reiterated his threat to enact what he called the Trump Reciprocal Tax Act that would impose tariffs of the same amount that countries levied on imports from the US.
He said he would make the US companies bring home their manufacturing, creating jobs in the US.
Trump promised a “golden age” of prosperity for the US.
Attacking Harris as dishonest, he repeated his claim that she had not worked at McDonald’s fast-food restaurant as she had said.
He said that his campaign event of working at a Pennsylvania restaurant was longer than any she might have.
He asserted that Google CEO Sundar Pichai – “a very smart guy” – had called him about it.
Mangling his first name by pronouncing the U as in sun, Trump said, “I got a call from Sundar … and he said, we’ve had more hits for McDonald’s (story). I think he said (more than) anything we’ve ever had”.
(Harris and many sources maintain that she had worked part-time at McDonald’s while she was a student at Howard University in Washington.)
Trump praised his vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s wife, Usha, as a highly intelligent person who had topped Yale Law School and said their children would be very smart.
Donald Trump
Trump trotted out his well-worn accusations that Harris was a radical Leftist who was trying to hide her past radical statements on immigration and being soft on crime but would bring them back if elected.
The media was again his target, calling it “fakers” and “enemy of the people”.
The rally was as much entertainment as serious policy discourse.
His speech was punctuated by music and videos of crimes by migrants.
For Trump, who was convicted in the city on 32 charges of fraud for trying to hide as business expenses his hush money payments to a porn star who claimed to have had a sexual tryst, and faces sentencing next month, it seemed like a moment of triumph as thousands cheered him on what was once his home turf.
“This is the city where I was born and raised, and this is the town that taught me that Americans can do anything,” he said.
The former president has moved his official residence from the city to Florida but keeps a penthouse at Trump Towers.
His wife, Melania, who introduced him, recalled a rally Trump had held in South Bronx in May.
The last time a Republican president campaigned there, it was Ronald Reagan, who turned New York “red”, she said.
Speaking in a city where he won only a paltry 23 per cent of the votes in 2020, Trump who has been accused of divisive rhetoric tried to project a sense of inclusivity.
He said he was building the “biggest, broadest coalition in the history of the country”.
“We bleed the same blood. we share the same hope. we are one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God,” he said.
Although he did not say anything racist, some of his associates who spoke before him did.
Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News talk show host, ridiculed Harris, whose mother is Indian, as “a Samoan, Malaysian, low-IQ”.
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk, who, Trump said, will head a government efficiency panel, claimed that he would cut $2 trillion from the current federal budget of $6.5 trillion.
Because of the many traffic accidents, the road between Jalalabad and Kabul is considered one of the most dangerous in the world…reports Asian Lite News
The Afghan caretaker government on Saturday officially launched the construction of the second lane of the Kabul-Jalalabad highway, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported.
The second lane of the highway, linking the Afghan capital to the provincial capital of the eastern province of Nangarhar at a length of 150 km, is expected to help increase trade and economic activities with the neighboring states and beyond the region, said Acting Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The Public Work Directorate of Nangarhar province has already initiated the work for the second lane of the road connecting Jalalabad to Kabul city, the report said, according to Xinhua news agency.
Construction has been underway on the second lane of the Kabul-Kandahar road in the south and the Kabul-Mazar-i-Sharif highway in the north of the war-torn Central Asian country.
Because of the many traffic accidents, the road between Jalalabad and Kabul is considered one of the most dangerous in the world. It consists of narrow roads with sharp turns past high cliffs and a valley of the Kabul River below, with which it runs parallel.
It is a large part of the Afghan leg of the Grand Trunk Road. Parts of the road follow the route of the British Army’s disastrous 1842 retreat from Kabul.
The list features Milind Deora, who will contest against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray in Worli. Sanjay Nirupam has been fielded from the Dindoshi constituency….reports Asian lite News
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday released its new list of 20 candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The list features Milind Deora, who will contest against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray in Worli. Sanjay Nirupam has been fielded from the Dindoshi constituency.
Nilesh Rane, son of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane to contest elections from the Kudal seat.
Milind Deora is currently a Rajya Sabha member and is a three-time MP from South Mumbai. Deora was given the task during the Lok Sabha polls to handle Worli.
Earlier today, BJP leader and former Union Minister Raosaheb Patil Danve’s daughter Sanjana Jadhav joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Along with Sanjana Jadhav, former BJP MP Rajendra Gavit and former BJP Corporator Murji Patel also joined the party.
Both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress — have intensified their preparations for the upcoming elections to 288 Assembly seats in the State. The BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance alongside the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.
Xxx
Sena (UBT) slams Milind
Launching a scathing attack against Shiv Sena leader Milind Deora (Shinde faction), Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey on Monday said that there is nothing he can show and that he got defeated in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“…Aaditya Thackeray has a history of 5 years to show (the works which he has done in the past 5 years for Worli.). What history of work do you have to show? Milind ji (Milind Deora), you lost the 2014 Lok Sabha, lost the 2019 Lok Sabha, and disappeared completely from politics to do rehabilitation. Then you took the Rajya Sabha path from the back door,” said the Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson.
“Now when Eknath Shinde’s so-called Shiv Sena could not find any candidate, on whose head should the blame of defeat be put, then after a lot of thinking and brainstorming you were brought forward… Why should Sandeep Deshpande get himself disgraced alone, two are better than 1. Now Aaditya Thackeray will defeat both Sandeep Deshpande and Milind Deora and then become a minister….” said Anand Dubey hailing Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar will file his nomination from the Baramati assembly seat today. His nephew and grandson of Sharad Pawar, Yugendra Pawar, is contesting from the same constituency as the NCP-SP candidate. (ANI)
NCP releases list of 49 candidates
The Nationalist Congress Party on Sunday, released its list of 49 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The party’s chief national spokesperson Brijmohan Srivastav shared the information in a press note on Sunday. He stated that the final selection of candidates was conducted in parliamentary board meetings.
The Ajit Pawar-led party informed that the decision over the 49 names was taken across different parliamentary board meetings.
38 candidates were announced in the first phase, followed by seven in the second, and four in the third phase. To date, a total of 49 candidates have been finalised, the release stated.
“The candidate selection process was overseen by the NCP Parliamentary board, chaired by National President Ajit Pawar. He was joined by National Working President Praful Patel and State President and MP Sunil Tatkare with other board members,” it added.
Among some prominent names, Sana Malik, daughter of NCP leader Nawab Malik has been fielded from the Anushakti Nagar constituency.
Zeeshan Siddiqui, son of deceased leader Baba Siddiqui, has been fielded from Bandra East.
NCP’s third list included Vijaysingh Pandit from the Gevrai constituency, Sachin Sudhakar Patil from the Phaltan, Dilipkaka Bankar from Niphad and Kashinath Daante from the Parner constituency.
On October 25, NCP announced its second list for the elections.
The NCP’s second list included former BJP leaders Nishikant Patil for Islampur and Sanjaykaka Ramchandra Patil from Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal, who joined the party in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42. (ANI)
Amit Shah further emphasised that the BJP’s next major goal is to establish a government in West Bengal in 2026…reports Asian Lite News
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the TMC government in West Bengal of engaging in “state-sponsored infiltration” and declared that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “next big target” is to form a government in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Speaking at the launch of BJP’s membership drive in Kolkata, the Union Home Minister noted that Syama Prasad Mukherjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which has since grown into the world’s largest political party.
“We are all proud to be members of the world’s largest party. I have faith in the Bengal workers that we will not lag in membership numbers. The party has set a target of one crore members. If we examine the history of political parties today, most are run on caste or family lines. The Bharatiya Janata Party is unique, with a National President and Prime Minister who are ordinary workers, without any other background,” Shah stated.
He further emphasised that the BJP’s next major goal is to establish a government in West Bengal in 2026.
“In Bengal, state-sponsored infiltration must be stopped. Joining the BJP in Bengal means joining the mission to free the state from the grip of communists and Mamata Didi. This is a border state, and with the way infiltration is being supported at a state level, there is only one solution: a BJP government in 2026. To combat cow and coal smuggling, we need to enlist one crore BJP members in West Bengal,” he added.
Shah also criticised the Mamata government over the RG Kar rape-murder case on August 9, stating that the safety of women is at risk in Bengal.
“The dignity of mothers and sisters is being violated in Bengal. Incidents like Sandeshkhali and RG Kar must be stopped, which will only happen if the BJP forms a government in 2026. In 2026, we will secure a two-thirds majority in West Bengal,” he asserted.
Amit Shah also criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, highlighting that from 2004 to 2014, the UPA government allocated Rs 2.9 lakh crore to Bengal, while from 2014 to 2024, the NDA government provided Rs 7.74 lakh crore.
“(West Bengal CM) Mamata Banerjee claims that Modi ji does not provide funds to Bengal. Today, I want to ask Mamata Didi: over the past 10 years, how much did the INDI alliance allocate to Bengal? From 2004 to 2014, the UPA government provided Rs 2.9 lakh crore, and from 2014 to 2024, the NDA government has given Rs 7.74 lakh crore,” Shah remarked.
Commenting on the BJP’s membership drive, BJP leader Roopa Ganguly mentioned that actor Mithun Chakraborty was also honoured at the event.
“As per BJP rules, a membership drive is conducted in each state every few years. Today, Amit Shah ji has officially launched this programme in West Bengal, and Mithun Chakraborty was honoured as part of it,” Roopa Ganguly shared.
Following the membership drive, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh expressed confidence that the workers would engage fully, helping the party reach its one-crore membership target.
“Last time, we enrolled over 88 lakh members. Today, the party has grown with more MPs and MLAs. We aim to surpass one crore members. With around seven crore votes in Bengal and 2.33 crore votes from the Lok Sabha, we are setting this goal. I believe our workers will take up this challenge and achieve it. We won’t stop until it’s accomplished,” Dilip Ghosh affirmed.
In addition to the membership drive, the Union Home Minister inaugurated the Passenger Terminal building and the Maitri Dwar at Land Port, Petrapole, in West Bengal on Sunday.
Petrapole Land Port, the largest in South Asia, serves as a crucial trade and commerce gateway between India and Bangladesh. The Petrapole (India)-Benapole (Bangladesh) crossing is one of the primary land borders for trade and passenger movement between the two countries.
The Maitri Dwar, a joint cargo gate at the zero line, was established through a bilateral agreement. Amit Shah laid its foundation stone on May 9, 2023. (ANI)
Reynolds’ job is part of a wider Downing Street shake-up that Starmer has overseen after removing Sue Gray as his chief of staff….reports Asian Lite News
Keir Starmer has appointed a former aide to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as his new political director in Downing Street. The prime minister has given the senior role to Claire Reynolds, the director of Labour Women’s Network, who was credited with helping get 100 new female MPs elected this summer.
Reynolds, who is also the wife of the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will have to handle the sensitive task of liaising with Labour’s 403 MPs during what are likely to be a difficult first few years in power.
A Labour source said: “We couldn’t have someone better qualified than Claire to be leading relationships between No 10, the Labour party and our politicians. Claire’s been a candidate, councillor, adviser and organiser, building a fantastic network across the party, and she has supported hundreds, particularly women, to achieve their full potential in the party.”
Reynolds’ job is part of a wider Downing Street shake-up that Starmer has overseen after removing Sue Gray as his chief of staff. Gray’s position has been taken by Starmer’s long-term ally Morgan McSweeney, who is now being supported by two deputy chiefs of staff. One of those, Vidhya Alakeson, was the political director until her promotion.
As the head of Labour Women’s Network, Reynolds trained hundreds of women for roles at different levels of government and as Labour candidates. She previously worked in No 10 under Brown and Blair. As well as working as a Labour councillor, she has also served as a European election candidate, a chair of school governors and the national secretary of Labour Students.
In her new role, which is paid for by the Labour party, she will be in charge of maintaining good relations across the parliamentary party, even as Starmer announces a series of unpopular decisions that he says are necessary to repair public services.
The first test of her ability to manage those fraught relations is likely to come this week as the chancellor prepares to unveil billions of pounds of tax rises and spending cuts as part of Labour’s first budget in 15 years.
Starmer will defend Labour plans in speech and insist working people need better public services more than lower taxes…reports Asian Lite News
Keir Starmer will promise to “embrace the harsh light of fiscal reality” on Monday as his chancellor prepares to unveil a budget that includes billions of pounds’ worth of tax rises and spending cuts.
The prime minister will give a speech in the West Midlands defending Labour’s approach to the economy, as Rachel Reeves prepares to announce what she promises will be as momentous a budget as any in the party’s history.
The chancellor will on Wednesday set out a major boost to capital spending, paid for by higher borrowing, a series of tax rises and an immediate squeeze on departmental budgets. With days to go until the announcement, senior Labour figures are concerned they will be punished by voters for raising national insurance contributions, having promised not to do so in their election manifesto.
The prime minister will bat away such concerns in his speech on Monday, insisting that working people need better public services.
Starmer will say: “It is working people who pay the price when their government fails to deliver economic stability. They’ve had enough of slow growth, stagnant living standards and crumbling public services.”
He will add: “It’s time to choose a clear path, and embrace the harsh light of fiscal reality so we can come together behind a credible, long-term plan. It’s time we ran towards the tough decisions, because ignoring them set us on the path of decline. It’s time we ignored the populist chorus of easy answers … we’re never going back to that.”
Starmer’s speech marks an attempt to head off criticism ahead of one of the most important weeks for his premiership so far. At the heart of the budget will be a major increase in national insurance contributions paid by employers. The chancellor is set to raise at least £8.5bn by raising those contributions, and will also reduce the threshold at which they are applied.
That tax rise will be accompanied by a series of other rises that could also prove controversial. They include levying VAT on private schools, increasing capital gains tax on share sales and imposing inheritance tax on some agricultural property.
The money will help close the £22bn gap in the public finances that Reeves says was left behind by the previous government. The chancellor has said she aims to raise another £18bn to improve public services, including funding a 4.5% annual increase in the NHS budget.
Reeves will cut the day-to-day spending budgets for departments including the Ministry of Justice, the transport department and the housing department. In the longer term, the chancellor will change the government’s definition of debt to allow her to borrow an additional £50bn a year for capital investment by the end of the parliament. But in an effort to reassure the bond markets, she is set to limit herself to borrowing only £20bn-£25bn more than currently forecast.
The extra money will help pay for an additional £1.4bn to repair school buildings, as well as two carbon capture and storage sites in the north of England, and a plan to regenerate Euston station and complete the high-speed rail link with Old Oak Common.
It will not be used to pay for more freeports, despite Downing Street announcing last week that the chancellor would unveil five new sites in the budget. The Financial Times revealed on Sunday that the announcement had been a mistake and that the money would be used for previously announced sites instead. “It just was a total cock-up with the comms,” one official said.
Ministers have spent much of the last week embroiled in a row over who should count as “working people”, given they promised not to raise taxes on working people in their manifesto. Last week Starmer said he used the term for people who earn money through work rather than from assets such as shares or property, though Downing Street later said people who owned small numbers of shares could count as working people.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, told the BBC on Sunday: “Coming out of this budget, working people will not see higher taxes in the payslips that they receive. That is really important, because we know the pressures that people are under.”
Starmer will on Monday attempt to recast that debate, saying: “We choose a different path: honest, responsible, long-term decisions in the interests of working people.”
In an echo of the downbeat tone he struck in a speech in the Downing Street garden in August, he will add: “We have to be realistic about where we are as a country. This is not 1997, when the economy was decent but public services were on their knees. And it’s not 2010, where public services were strong but the public finances were weak. These are unprecedented circumstances.”
Despite extensive efforts by Reeves and Starmer to prepare voters and the markets for the budget to come, some cabinet ministers are concerned about the impact of its measures on the party’s faltering poll ratings.
The Harris campaign’s Thursday star parade in Atlanta in battleground state Georgia included Springsteen, of course, but also comedian Tyler Perry, filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Samuel L. Jackson…reports Asian Lite News
It was Beyonce on Friday, Bruce Springsteen on Thursday and Eminem on Wednesday. US Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is trotting out celebrities in these final days of the race for the White House in the hope of reaching out to the undecided voters, turnout voters and keep the momentum going.
Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, considered royalty in the Democratic party, have also been deployed by the Harris campaign. Obama joined both Eminem and Springsteen for their appearances while Michelle Obama will show up with Harris later on Saturday in Michigan. Singer John Legend will take the stage for Harris on Sunday in Pennsylvania and the band Mumford & Sons later next week.
“I’m not here as a celebrity,” Beyonce, the pop icon, said at a Harris rally in Houston, Texas. “I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother, a mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in.”
The Houston rally in the Republican stronghold of Texas was focused on abortion rights, a leading issue for the Harris campaign.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she added. “Imagine our grandmothers, imagine what they feel right now.”
Beyonce has supported Democrats but is not known to deliver remarks at rallies. She had signalled support for Harris by allowing her campaign to use her song “Freedom” to open her rallies.
The Harris campaign’s Thursday star parade in Atlanta in battleground state Georgia included Springsteen, of course, but also comedian Tyler Perry, filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Samuel L. Jackson.
After performing “The Promised Land”, Springsteen told the audience he is backing Harris because he wants a president who “reveres” the Constitution. “There is only one candidate in this election who holds those principles dear, Kamala Harris. She’s running to be the 47th president of the United States. Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant,” he added
The Trump campaign was not impressed with the star turnout. “Relying on celebrities is nothing new for the party of Hollywood elites — and as voters realise the depths of Kamala’s incompetence and radicalism, she needs an added draw,” it said in a statement.
Eric Phillips, of CARICOM’S commission to seek reparations from former colonial powers such as Britain, France and Portugal, said he did not understand the relevance of the Commonwealth if Starmer “takes a cruel approach”…reports Asian Lite News
The leaders of the Commonwealth grouping of nations met on Thursday ahead of a summit in the South Pacific nation of Samoa that will feature talks on climate change and the question of reparations for Britain’s role in transatlantic slavery.
King Charles, the head of the grouping, is among the representatives of 56 countries, most with roots in Britain’s empire, who are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that began on Monday.
More than half of the Commonwealth’s members are small nations, many of them low-lying islands at risk from rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Among them is Tuvalu, whose climate change minister, Maina Vakafua Talia, urged the grouping to strive for the Paris Accord’s warming goal of 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F), calling new fossil fuel projects a “death sentence” for his country.
“We call on our wealthier partners to align themselves with this goal and not fan the flames of the climate crisis with fossil fuel expansion,” he said.
Island leaders are expected to issue a declaration on ocean protection at the summit, with climate change being a central topic of discussion.
“Climate change is an existential threat,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a press conference after a meeting with counterparts. “It is the No. 1 national security threat. It is the No. 1 economic threat to the peoples of the Pacific and to many members of the Commonwealth.”
Zambia was among the African countries that warned of the rising impacts of climate change, including the effects on food security, she added.
On Thursday, Charles will be shown the impact of rising sea levels that are forcing people to move inland, a Samoan chief said.
Ocean temperatures are rising in the Pacific Islands at three times the global rate, Antonio Guterres, thesecretary-general of the United Nations, has said, leaving their people “uniquely exposed” to the impact of rising sea levels.
Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa welcomed the assembled leaders at a banquet, among them Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, wearing a colourful “bula” shirt, while his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, wore a dark suit.
Also on the agenda is a push for Britain to pay reparations or make other amends for transatlantic slavery, a long-standing demand that has recently gained momentum worldwide, particularly among the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the African Union.
On Monday, Starmer said Britain would not bring the issue of reparations for slavery to the table at the summit and would not apologise, but was open to engage with leaders who want to discuss it.
He wanted to “look forward rather than looking backwards”, he told reporters.
But a CARICOM source familiar with the matter said CHOGM presented an “important opportunity” for dialogue on reparations and the region, which groups countries such as Barbados and Jamaica, would be raising the issue there.
Eric Phillips, of CARICOM’S commission to seek reparations from former colonial powers such as Britain, France and Portugal, said he did not understand the relevance of the Commonwealth if Starmer “takes this cruel approach”.
Discussions were taking place “behind the scenes” in Samoa, however, said Kingsley Abbott, director of London University’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies, who is attending the summit.
There were paragraphs in the summit’s draft conclusion calling for a discussion on reparations, Bahamas Foreign Minister Frederick Mitchell told the BBC, adding, “CARICOM countries want the conversation to start.” Opponents of reparations payments say countries should not be held responsible for historical wrongs, while those in favour say the legacy of slavery has led to vast and persistent racial inequality today.
“Whenever those affected by atrocities ask to talk, there should always be a willingness to sit down and listen,” Abbott said.
From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly taken by European ships and merchants and sold into slavery.
Those who survived the brutal voyages ended up toiling on plantations in inhumane conditions in the Americas, mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean, while others profited from their labour.
As a series of Labour MPs called on the government to discuss reparations, chancellor Rachel Reeves was asked on a trip to Washington if Britain could afford to pay them. She replied: “No”.
Starmer is expected to be pressed on the issue personally while in Samoa, after the prime minister of the Bahamas Philip Davis said he wanted a “frank talk” with the PM on the issue, while Fred Mitchell, his country’s foreign affairs minister, said it was “only a matter of time” before the Labour leader changed his position.
At the summit, Starmer said that this generation should have a conversation about the history of slavery but said that the UK should be “forward looking” in its stance on reparations.
