Tag Archives: citizenship and displacement

US

NYC bike path terror suspect found guilty on all counts

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CNN
 — 

Sayfullo Saipov was found guilty of murder by a federal jury for using a rented truck to fatally strike eight people on a New York City bike path on Halloween Day in 2017.

Jurors deliberated about six hours over two days in the case involving the deadliest terrorist attack New York had seen since 9/11 – which left six foreign tourists and two Americans dead.

The same jury will determine whether Saipov is sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty. The vote must be unanimous for the death penalty to be imposed. The penalty phase of the trial is scheduled to begin on February 6.

The trial was the first federal death penalty case heard during the administration of President Joe Biden, who had campaigned against capital punishment at the federal level.

Jury deliberations began Wednesday afternoon after Judge Vernon Broderick read them instructions.

Saipov had pleaded not guilty.

He was convicted Thursday in the Southern District of New York of counts of murder in aid of racketeering activity, assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity, attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity, provision of material support to ISIS, and violence and destruction of a motor vehicle.

In closing arguments, defense attorney David Patton did not dispute the facts of the attack Saipov is accused of committing. But the defense disputed the prosecution’s claim that Saipov was motivated to commit the attack to gain entry to ISIS. Patton argued that the attack was spurred by religious fervor to please his God and “ascend to paradise” in his religion.

Prosecutors told jurors that Saipov carried out the attack to become a member of the terrorist group.

“People who ISIS relies upon to conquer territory and kill non-believers, those are its soldiers. Of course they are part of ISIS. That is common sense,” prosecutor Amanda Leigh Houle said. “An organization engaged in a worldwide war needs its soldiers and its soldiers are part of the group.”

The charges stemmed from the 2017 attack in which Saipov drove a U-Haul truck into cyclists and pedestrians on Manhattan’s West Side bike path. He then crashed the vehicle into a school bus and left the truck while brandishing a pellet gun and paintball gun, authorities said at the time. He was shot by an NYPD officer and taken into custody, officials said.

Investigators said Saipov told them he planned the attack for about a year and was inspired by ISIS videos, according to a criminal complaint.

Saipov became radicalized by consuming extremist content during lengthy solo stints as a long-haul truck driver, his attorney said.

He grew up culturally Muslim in Uzbekistan but was not exposed to any significant amount of religious study, and his family members are not ISIS supporters, Patton said.

Saipov came to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010 and was living in New Jersey before the attack. He lived with his wife and three children and drove for Uber, according to officials.

Saipov came to the US on a diversity immigrant visa, which allows people from countries with low recent immigration to apply for a visa and green card, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He later became a legal permanent resident, officials said.

Of the eight people killed in the attack, five were from Argentina, two were Americans, and one was from Belgium, police said.

The Argentinians were part of a group celebrating the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation in New York City.

Argentina’s Foreign Affairs Ministry identified them as Hernán Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damián Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernán Ferruchi.

Nicholas Cleves, 23, from New York, and Darren Drake, 32, from New Milford, New Jersey, were the two Americans killed.

Ann-Laure Decadt, a 31-year-old Belgian woman, was also among those killed, according to a statement from her husband, Alexander Naessens. Decadt, a mother of two young sons, was on a trip to New York with her two sisters and her mother, Naessens said after the attack.

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US

Immigration records contradict Santos’ claim his mother was at World Trade Center on 9/11

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CNN
 — 

Newly uncovered immigration records for Rep. George Santos’ mother appear to contradict the embattled freshman Republican’s repeated claim that she was present at the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The records indicate that Fatima Devolder said she was in Brazil between 1999 and early 2003, and therefore not in New York City when the attacks took place. CNN obtained the records, first reported on by The Forward, from genealogy researcher Alex Calzareth, who received them from a Freedom of Information Act request.

While in Brazil in 2003, Devolder indicated on a form that she had not been to the US since she left in 1999. Devolder also filed paperwork in Brazil in 2001, just months before the September 11 attacks, saying her green card had been stolen.

Representatives for Santos did not return CNN’s requests for comment.

Santos has repeatedly claimed that his mother was at the World Trade Center on September 11 and said the incident played a role in her death from cancer.

In a December 17, 2021, radio interview on “The Voice of Reason with Andy Hooser,” Santos said that his mother got “caught up in the ash cloud” on 9/11 and that she did not sign up to get financial relief because she didn’t want to take money away from first responders.

“She was in the south tower, and she made it out. She got caught up in the ash cloud. My mom fought cancer till her death,” Santos said.

Santos has previously claimed his mother was a financial executive, although that description has since been removed from his website. The records obtained by CNN show she listed her jobs as a housekeeper or home aid.

Devolder also listed both of her parents – Santos’ grandparents – as being born in Brazil, again undercutting his claim that his maternal grandparents fled the Holocaust.

Santos has refused to step down from Congress, despite facing mounting legal issues and growing calls to resign for extensively lying about his resume.

– Source:
CNN
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Hear from the Navy veteran that was allegedly scammed by Santos

He is already facing a federal probe led by prosecutors in New York who are investigating his finances. And in a separate matter, CNN reported that law enforcement officials in Brazil will reinstate fraud charges against Santos. Prosecutors said they will seek a “formal response” from Santos related to a stolen checkbook in 2008, after police suspended an investigation into him because they were unable to find him for nearly a decade.

In an interview last month with the New York Post, Santos denied being charged with any crime in Brazil, saying “I am not a criminal here – not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world. Absolutely not. That didn’t happen.”

Santos admitted to stealing a man’s checkbook that was in his mother’s possession to purchase clothing and shoes in 2008, according to documents obtained by CNN.

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US

More migrants dropped outside vice president’s home in freezing weather on Christmas Eve

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CNN
 — 

Several busloads of migrants were dropped off in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, DC, on Christmas Eve in 18 degree weather late Saturday.

An initial two busloads were taken to local shelters, according to an administration official. More buses arrived outside the vice president’s residence later Saturday evening. A CNN team saw migrants being dropped off, with some migrants wearing only T-shirts in the freezing weather. They were given blankets and put on another bus that went to a local church.

Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, said her group was prepared for Saturday night’s arrivals. Busloads of migrants have been arriving in Washington weekly since April.

“The DC community has been welcoming buses from Texas anytime they’ve come since April,” she said. “Christmas Eve and freezing cold weather is no different. We are always here welcoming folks with open arms.”

It’s not clear who is responsible for sending the migrants to the Naval Observatory, though CNN reported earlier this year that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had sent buses of migrants north, including to a location outside Harris’ home.

Abbott is one of at least three Republican governors who have taken credit for busing or flying migrants north this year to protest the Biden administration’s immigration policies. He previously confirmed in September that his state had sent the buses to Harris’ residence at that time.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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US

Two migrant buses arrived in New York City, with several more expected in the next few days

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CNN
 — 

As New York continues to grapple with a growing influx of asylum-seekers, two buses carrying migrants arrived in the city Sunday, with at least 10 to 15 more buses expected over the next few days, according to an email from Mayor Eric Adam’s office obtained by CNN.

The email sent Sunday to New York City Council members and staff warned the city’s shelter system is already at capacity as an increase in migrant arrivals is expected over the next few days.

The surge is expected as a Trump-era public health border policy known as Title 42 is set to end Wednesday. Invoked at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Title 42 allowed officials to turn away migrants encountered at the southern border.

“Please be advised that due to the lifting of Title 42 later this week, the City is expecting a higher amount of asylum-seekers buses beginning today, with 2 buses today and 10-15 more expected in the next few days,” the email reads.

Fabien Levy, Adams’ press secretary, confirmed buses arrived in the city Sunday, but declined to say how many migrants were on board or what was specifically expected this week. He did say, “We’ve been told it’s going to ramp up this week.”

A district court struck down Title 42 last month and a federal appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by several Republican-led states to keep it in place.

New York should expect more than 1,000 additional asylum-seekers to arrive every week, the mayor said Sunday.

Since spring, thousands of asylum-seekers have been bused to the city from the southern border, often at the direction of officials – including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott – who have been critical of federal border policies.

More than 31,000 migrants have gone through the city’s migrant intake center as of December 14, and at least 21,400 are currently in the city’s homeless shelters or at four hotels operating as humanitarian emergency relief centers. The city has also opened 60 emergency shelter sites.

New York has been dealing with the crush of asylum-seekers for months, and the increase since the last budget adoption has driven a “historic surge” in the number of people living in city shelters, according to the city Comptroller’s Annual State of the City’s Economy and Finances report, released Thursday.

In October, Adams declared a state of emergency to what he called a “man-made humanitarian crisis,” saying the crowds seeking asylum were arriving faster than the city could accommodate them.

Adams has urged state and federal officials to help pay for the costs the city is facing as more migrants continue to arrive. Already, the city has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, he said.

New York is hoping to receive $3 billion from the federal government through 2026 to help handle the flood of migrants, according to the comptroller’s report.

The report adds the federal government has not confirmed it will support New York with the annual $1 billion, but the money is needed for services to support arriving migrants and those already in shelters who need permanent housing.

Denver, Colorado, is also struggling to provide shelter for a growing number of migrant arrivals.

Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock declared a state of emergency Thursday in response to the surge of migrants arriving from the southern border.

“With hundreds of new migrants now in Denver, and several hundred arriving in just the past few days alone, the city’s efforts to shelter them is under severe pressure due to limited space and staffing,” the mayor’s office said in a written statement.

On Sunday, 90 migrants arrived in Denver overnight, according to data released by the City and County of Denver.

Denver city services have served around 984 migrants since Dec. 9, the data shows, with 358 people sheltered in city emergency migrant shelters and another 157 people at partner emergency shelters.

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US

El Paso mayor declares state of emergency in response to migrant surge

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CNN
 — 

El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening following a surge of migrants who have recently arrived in the community and he says are living in unsafe conditions.

The mayor, who had previously declined to issue a state of emergency, said “hundreds” of migrants are on the streets in unsafe conditions while temperatures are beginning to drop, and things could get much worse when a Trump-era border policy is lifted Wednesday, which federal officials expect will lead to an increase in migrant arrivals.

“We know that the influx on Wednesday will be incredible,” the mayor said in a news conference, adding later some officials have estimated the number of arriving migrants could more than double after December 21.

Considering all those factors, “we felt it was a proper time today to call a state of emergency,” he added.

Earlier this week, a senior Border Patrol official said more than 2,400 migrants crossed into the US near El Paso daily over the weekend, describing the number as a “major surge in illegal crossings” in the area.

While those numbers climb and the region’s resources are already severely strained, Wednesday will also mark the court-ordered end of Title 42, a policy which has, since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, allowed officials to turn away migrants encountered at the southern border.

The deadline has federal officials bracing for a further increase in border crossings.

El Paso’s mayor said he previously did not call an emergency because local leaders and other partners had been able to respond to the arrivals, but, he added, it is no longer the case.

“I said from the beginning, that I would call it when I felt that either our asylum-seekers, or our community, was not safe,” Leeser said Saturday. “I really believe that today our asylum-seekers are not safe as we have hundreds and hundreds on the streets and that’s not the way we want to treat people.”

The declaration will allow local leaders to request additional resources from the state like personnel shelters and transportation, the city said in a news release.

An Emergency Operations Center will also be activated and emergency management plans will be put in place to help “protect the health, safety and welfare of the migrants and our community.”

The city added teams have already been deployed in the downtown area who are helping migrants arrange transportation and offering them shelter.

Speaking with CNN’s Boris Sanchez on Saturday morning, before the mayor’s news conference, one El Paso official said the city’s resources were already strained, and he worried what the lifting of Title 42 on Wednesday would mean.

About “a few hundred” migrants daily have recently been getting released on the city’s streets, said Mario D’Agostino, El Paso’s deputy city manager.

“As Title 42 goes away, how’s that going to add to it?” D’Agostino said.

Many of the migrants who are coming into El Paso are not looking to stay, he said, but the city’s infrastructure was struggling to support the crowds pouring in and trickling out.

“We do have a moderate-sized airport, we have a couple of smaller bus terminals, but that’s not enough to keep up with normal holiday traffic,” D’Agostino said.

Now on top of that traffic, hundreds of migrants are looking to leave the city daily. “We don’t have the infrastructure – the flights out of El Paso, the buses out of El Paso – to keep up with this flow.”

During the evening news conference D’Agostino said the declaration will allow city officials to tap in to larger sheltering operations, work with nonprofit organizations who are looking to assist, and help provide them with appropriate facilities, among other things.

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US

Title 42: Appeals court rejects bid by GOP-led states to keep Trump-era border policy in force

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CNN
 — 

A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by several Republican-led states to keep the so-called Title 42 rule in force, after a district court struck the controversial Trump-era border policy down.

The new ruling from the DC Circuit US Court of Appeals sets the stage for the case to go to the Supreme Court. The Biden administration is set to stop enforcing Title 42 – which allows for the expulsion of migrants at the US-Mexico border – on Wednesday.

The Republican-led states previously indicated that if the appeals court ruled against them, they’d seek the intervention of the Supreme Court.

In the new order, the DC Circuit denied the states’ request to intervene in the case and dismissed as moot the states’ request that it put the lower court’s ruling on hold.

The unsigned order was handed down by a circuit panel made up of an Obama appointee, a Trump appointee and a Biden appointee.

They wrote that the “inordinate and unexplained untimeliness” of the states’ request to get involved in the case “weighs decisively against intervention.”

The case is a lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union, representing several migrants brought In January 2021 challenging the program. The appeals court noted on Friday that the Republican-led states had long known that their interest in keeping the policy in force would diverge from the Biden administration’s approach to the case.

The appeals court wrote that “more than eight months ago, the federal government issued an order terminating the Title 42 policy.”

“Yet these long-known-about differing interests in preserving Title 42—a decision of indisputable consequence—are the only reasons the States now provide for wanting to intervene for the first time on appeal,” the DC Circuit said. “Nowhere in their papers do they explain why they waited eight to fourteen months to move to intervene.”

The ACLU attorney representing the migrants praised the court’s decision.

“The states are clearly and wrongly trying to use Title 42 to restrict asylum and not for the law’s intended public health purposes,” the attorney, Lee Gelernt, told CNN in an email. “Many of these states were vigorously opposed to past COVID restrictions but suddenly believe there is a need for restrictions when it comes to migrants fleeing danger.”

White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan said after the ruling that the administration has a “robust effort underway” for managing the border following the policy’s expected lifting next week.

“To be clear: the lifting of the Title 42 public health order does not mean the border is open. Anyone who suggests otherwise is doing the work of smugglers spreading misinformation to make a quick buck off of vulnerable migrants,” Hasan said in a statement. “We will continue to fully enforce our immigration laws and work to expand legal pathways for migration while discouraging disorderly and unsafe migration. We have a robust effort underway to manage the border in a safe, orderly, and humane way when Title 42 lifts as required by court order.”

The White House also urged Republicans in Congress to agree to more border funding and work on comprehensive immigration reform. The Biden administration has asked Congress for more than $3 billion as it prepares for the end of Title 42 to help shore up resources for border management and technology.

The administration’s handling of Title 42, which the Trump administration put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, has been the target of litigation from both supporters and opponents of the program.

Last month, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan struck down the program. But Sullivan put his ruling on hold for five weeks so that the Biden administration would have time to prepare for the policy’s wind down. The administration has also appealed the ruling, arguing that the program was lawful, even if federal public health authorities have determined it is no longer necessary.

As the December 21 deadline for Sullivan’s ruling to go into effect approaches, officials have been preparing for a surge of migrants. More than 1 million migrants have been expelled under the rule, which is a public health authority the Trump administration began using at start of the Covid-19 pandemic to expel migrants before they went through the asylum application process.

Republican-led states, in their attempts to intervene in the case, allege that allowing the policy to terminate would “cause an enormous disaster at the border.”

They have argued that the “greatly increased number of migrants that such a termination will occasion will necessarily increase the States’ law enforcement, education, and healthcare costs.”

The Biden administration opposed the states’ attempt to intervene and their request to keep the policy in place, calling the requests untimely and unjustified.

“The States could have sought to intervene after the CDC acted to terminate the Title 42 orders in April 2022,” the administration wrote.

The migrants who challenged the program in the case also opposed the states’ request, writing in a court filing that the states were “transparently interested in Title 42 as a restriction on immigration and asylum” rather than as a public health measure.

The Biden administration tried to wind down the Title 42 program in 2021, but a coalition of mostly GOP-led states – in a separate case filed in Louisiana – successfully sued to block the Department of Homeland Security from ending enforcement.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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World

Taiwan’s military has a problem: As China fears grow, recruitment pool shrinks

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Taipei, Taiwan
CNN
 — 

Taiwan has noticed a hole in its defense plans that is steadily getting bigger. And it’s not one easily plugged by boosting the budget or buying more weapons.

The island democracy of 23.5 million is facing an increasing challenge in recruiting enough young men to meet its military targets and its Interior Ministry has suggested the problem is – at least in part – due to its stubbornly low birth rate.

Taiwan’s population fell for the first time in 2020, according to the ministry, which warned earlier this year that the 2022 military intake would be the lowest in a decade and that a continued drop in the youth population would pose a “huge challenge” for the future.

That’s bad news at a time when Taiwan is trying to bolster its forces to deter any potential invasion by China, whose ruling Communist Party has been making increasingly belligerent noises about its determination to “reunify” with the self-governed island – which it has never controlled – by force if necessary.

And the outlook has darkened further with the release of a new report by Taiwan’s National Development Council projecting that by 2035 the island can expect roughly 20,000 fewer births per year than the 153,820 it recorded in 2021. By 2035, Taiwan will also overtake South Korea as the jurisdiction with the world’s lowest birth rate, the report added.

Such projections are feeding into a debate over whether the government should increase the period of mandatory military service that eligible young men must serve. Currently, the island has a professional military force made up of 162,000 (as of June this year) – 7,000 fewer than the target, according to a report by the Legislative Yuan. In addition to that number, all eligible men must serve four months of training as reservists.

Changing the mandatory service requirement would be a major U-turn for Taiwan, which had previously been trying to cut down on conscription and shortened the mandatory service from 12 months as recently as 2018. But on Wednesday, Taiwan’s Minister of National Defence Chiu Kuo-cheng said such plans would be made public before the end of the year.

That news has met with opposition among some young students in Taiwan, who have voiced their frustrations on PTT, Taiwan’s version of Reddit, even if there is support for the move among the wider public.

A poll by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation in March this year found that most Taiwanese agreed with a proposal to lengthen the service period. It found that 75.9% of respondents thought it reasonable to extend it to a year; only 17.8% were opposed.

Many experts argue there is simply no other option.

Su Tzu-yun, a director of Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that before 2016, the pool of men eligible to join the military – either as career soldiers or as reservists – was about 110,000. Since then, he said, the number had declined every year and the pool would likely be as low as 74,000 by 2025.

And within the next decade, Su said, the number of young adults available for recruitment by the Taiwanese military could drop by as much as a third.

“This is a national security issue for us,” he said. “The population pool is decreasing, so we are actively considering whether to resume conscription to meet our military needs.

“We are now facing an increasing threat (from China), and we need to have more firepower and manpower.”

Taiwan’s low birth rate – 0.98 – is far below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population, but it is no outlier in East Asia.

In November, South Korea broke its own world record when its birth rate dropped to 0.79, while Japan’s fell to 1.3 and mainland China hit 1.15.

Even so, experts say the trend poses a unique problem for Taiwan’s military, given the relative size of the island and the threats it faces.

China has been making increasingly aggressive noises toward the island since August, when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi controversially visited Taipei. Not long after she landed in Taiwan, Beijing also launched a series of unprecedented military exercises around the island.

Since then, the temperature has remained high – particularly as Chinese leader Xi Jinping told a key Communist Party meeting in October that “reunification” was inevitable and that he reserves the option of taking “all measures necessary.”

Chang Yan-ting, a former deputy commander of Taiwan’s air force, said that while low birth rates were common across East Asia, “the situation in Taiwan is very different” as the island was facing “more and more pressure (from China) and the situation will become more acute.”

“The United States has military bases in Japan and South Korea, while Singapore does not face an acute military threat from its neighbors. Taiwan faces the greatest threat and declining birth rate will make the situation even more serious,” he added.

Roy Lee, a deputy executive director at Taiwan’s Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research, agreed that the security threats facing Taiwan were greater than those in the rest of the region.

“The situation is more challenging for Taiwan, because our population base is smaller than other countries facing similar problems,” he added.

Taiwan’s population is 23.5 million, compared to South Korea’s 52 million, Japan’s 126 million and China’s 1.4 billion.

Besides the shrinking recruitment pool, the decline in the youth population could also threaten the long-term performance of Taiwan’s economy – which is itself a pillar of the island’s defense.

Taiwan is the world’s 21st largest economy, according to the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research, and had a GDP of $668.51 billion last year.

Much of its economic heft comes from its leading role in the supply of semiconductor chips, which play an indispensable role in everything from smartphones to computers.

Taiwan’s homegrown semiconductor giant TSMC is perceived as being so valuable to the global economy – as well as to China – that it is sometimes referred to as forming part of a “silicon shield” against a potential military invasion by Beijing, as its presence would give a strong incentive to the West to intervene.

Lee noted that population levels are closely intertwined with gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic activity. A population decline of 200,000 people could result in a 0.4% decline in GDP, all else being equal, he said.

“It is very difficult to increase GDP by 0.4%, and would require a lot of effort. So the fact that a declining population can take away that much growth is big,” he said.

Taiwan’s government has brought in a series of measures aimed at encouraging people to have babies, but with limited success.

It pays parents a monthly stipend of 5,000 Taiwan dollars (US$161) for their first baby, and a higher amount for each additional one.

Since last year, pregnant women have been eligible for seven days of leave for obstetrics checks prior to giving birth.

Outside the military, in the wider economy, the island has been encouraging migrant workers to fill job vacancies.

Statistics from the National Development Council showed that about 670,000 migrant workers were in Taiwan at the end of last year – comprising about 3% of the population.

Most of the migrant workers are employed in the manufacturing sector, the council said, the vast majority of them from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Lee said in the long term the Taiwanese government would likely have to reform its immigration policies to bring in more migrant workers.

Still, there are those who say Taiwan’s low birth rate is no reason to panic, just yet.

Alice Cheng, an associate professor in sociology at Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, cautioned against reading too much into population trends as they were affected by so many factors.

She pointed out that just a few decades ago, many demographers were warning of food shortages caused by a population explosion.

And even if the low birth rate endured, that might be no bad thing if it were a reflection of an improvement in women’s rights, she said.

“The educational expansion that took place in the 70s and 80s in East Asia dramatically changed women’s status. It really pushed women out of their homes because they had knowledge, education and career prospects,” she said.

“The next thing you see globally is that once women’s education level improved, fertility rates started declining.”

“All these East Asian countries are really scratching their head and trying to think about policies and interventions to boost fertility rates,” she added.

“But if that’s something that really, (women) don’t want, can you push them to do that?”

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World

Sunak’s wealth and right-wing politics mean he is far from representative, British Asians say

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London
CNN
 — 

Orange and pink fireworks colored the skies over south London on Monday, as members of the local South Asian community celebrated Diwali.

This year, the holiday aligned with Rishi Sunak, 42, becoming Britain’s first prime minister of Indian descent, as Hindus like him celebrated the festival of lights.

Sunak’s rise to power has split opinion among South Asians in the UK. Some believe his historic appointment is a moment of pride and sign of social progress in Britain, while others point to his immense wealth, privately educated background and adoption of hard right-wing policies.

Evidence of this wide range of views was clear when CNN spoke to South Asians in the London neighborhood of Tooting – home to a bustling migrant community within the British capital.

Flamboyant fabric shops, places of worship and food vendors offering syrupy Indian desserts alongside fresh fruits and vegetables line the streets, with family-run convenience stores dotting nearly every corner.

The London suburb is steeped in the richly diverse heritage of its residents, where people of color comprise over half of the population, according to the 2011 UK census.

The same data found that nearly 30% of people in Tooting identify as “Asian” or “Asian British,” and after English, Urdu and Gujarati are among the most common languages spoken.

“I think it’s a good thing and especially auspicious on the day of Diwali, for him to be appointed,” Raj Singh, a Punjabi-Sikh member of the Khalsa Centre, a local Sikh temple, told CNN.

“It is a sign of progress, but only at the top. Rishi Sunak comes from a very privileged background,” the 58-year-old solicitor said, his glasses tucked behind his bright orange turban.

Singh said he believed Sunak’s ascent is a sign that only South Asian politicians with immense social and economic privilege can “break the glass ceiling.”

Earlier this year, Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian billionaire, appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List of the UK’s 250 wealthiest people. The newspaper estimated their joint net worth at £730 million ($826 million).

Sunak received a flurry of congratulations from other politicians of South Asian heritage, including former Conservative cabinet minister Sajid Javid and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is in the opposition Labour Party. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also sent Sunak “special Diwali wishes,” calling him a “bridge” between the two countries.

Outside the capital, Sanjay Chandarana, who heads a Hindu temple in Southampton, southern England, co-founded by Sunak’s grandparents in 1971, told CNN that Sunak’s elevation was “a Barack Obama moment” for the UK, in a nod to America’s first Black president.

“I think it’s something of importance to the South Asian community … seeing that he is the first South Asian prime minister of the UK. It’s something that I think all South Asians should be proud of,” Irtaza Nasir, a 24-year-old restaurant director in Tooting, said. “I never thought this day would come.”

Anil Shah, a garrulous 75-year-old Hindu Gujarati shopkeeper, said Sunak’s leadership “proves that we have Indians who are clever enough to do the job.”

However, Nilufar Ahmed, a psychologist at the University of Bristol in western England, said Sunak’s leadership is “nuanced and complex,” and cautioned the limits of racial representation at the highest rungs of British politics.

“I think that there was something quite lovely about his appointment coming alongside Diwali. I think that was really meaningful for many South Asians to have that,” she said.

“But I also think that it’s too simplistic to see Rishi Sunak as symbolic of a South Asian community in the UK. This is a man that has had lots of privilege and so he isn’t as representative as some of the discourse around representation is presenting him to be.”

Ahmed said she remains cynical about comparisons between Sunak and Obama’s premiership, citing the absence of a mandate from the general population in Britain.

Sunak was appointed prime minister, replacing Liz Truss, after his lone remaining rival Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the Conservative Party leadership contest. He is the third British prime minister in seven weeks, with his premiership sparking calls from across the political spectrum for a general election.

“Rishi Sunak was not even elected by his own party, let alone by the UK population. And so there will be a resistance in the population against Sunak being appointed. He will not be seen as somebody who perhaps represents the membership or the voters of the Conservative Party,” Ahmed commented.

She added that his premiership could “play out in quite worrying ways,” citing a viral video in which a Conservative party member launched racist criticism against Sunak and told LBC Radio that he “doesn’t love England” and “isn’t even British in most people’s opinion.”

Sunak was born in the coastal city of Southampton and is a British citizen.

For Lubeena Yar, a 56-year-old entrepreneur based in Tooting, Sunak’s appointment “was circumstantial.”

“Conservatives are Conservatives. I don’t think it really matters what color their skin is,” the 56-year-old reflected as she sat on a plush pink chair inside her Pakistani clothes store.

Yar said she did not align with Sunak’s Conservative Party values, but added that she identified with the sacrifices his parents made in migrating to the UK from East Africa in the 1960s.

She recalled that when her parents first came from Pakistan to the UK in the same period, her father was turned away from homeowning opportunities because racist neighbors would say they did not want a person of color living on their street.

“I’ve grown up in that era. And, you know, I remember what my life was or what my parents had to sacrifice so we could get a good education, get our degrees and do what we wanted to. Our parents weren’t from that privileged background, but they made it for us.”

Sunak has inherited myriad challenges as the UK’s new leader, namely the task of steering the country out of a grueling cost-of-living crisis and calming financial markets in the wake of Truss’ short and chaotic premiership.

However, Sunak is also partially responsible for the economic turmoil suffocating the UK.

While serving as the UK’s former finance minister under Boris Johnson’s government, he installed measures worth £400 billion ($452 billion) aimed at strengthening the economy, including a generous furlough scheme, business loans and concessions on eating in restaurants. But that stimulus came at a sizeable cost and left the government struggling to find savings.

He has pledged to bring “stability and unity” to the Conservatives by appealing to multiple factions of the party, which has seen deepening divisions since the 2016 Brexit vote.

He has historically voted to support stronger enforcement of immigration and asylum rules and opposed measures to prevent climate change and promote equality and human rights. Like his predecessor, Sunak promised a tough approach to illegal immigration and vowed to expand the government’s controversial Rwanda immigration policy.

Further north, in the Scottish city of Glasgow, Fariya Sharif, said she failed to see Sunak’s leadership as a sign of equality.

“Rishi Sunak’s appointment makes me feel deflated and devastated at the chaos of the Tories continuing to badly rule our country, especially another PM that wasn’t elected by everyday people,” the 30-year-old Muslim Pakistani chef said by email.

“I don’t see this as racial progress. I see this as tokenism from the Tories trying to push their agenda on wealthier immigrant communities … it encourages an environment where brown people are only accepted if they follow the same harsh rules on immigration and economics.”

Sunak’s premiership has sparked a debate among many British Asians that lies at the intersection of race, class and politics.

The new prime minister has entered Downing Street as one of its richest ever occupants, yet he has the task of leading a country where marginalized communities are falling deeper into poverty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

During his time as chancellor of the exchequer, Sunak was criticized for proposing a negligible 1% pay rise to staff for Britain’s National Health Service, despite the institution crumbling under government cuts and staff shortages.

Rina Patel, a Hindu Gujarati doctor who works at St. Helier Hospital in south London, said she has “really mixed views” about Sunak’s premiership.

“In terms of representing people, I don’t feel that he can represent the poorest people in our society. And as a doctor in the NHS, I see some of the poorest people in our society that are struggling,” the 43-year-old said against the backdrop of a local jeweler.

“In terms of the fact that he is intelligent, has a finance background, I think he will do better than what’s gone before, but that’s no compliment,” Patel added. “I don’t think he represents me.”

“What I see in Rishi Sunak’s, first and foremost … is an incredibly privileged person with enormous wealth and with access to education and resources that the majority of South Asians in the UK do not have. And so, I have far more in common with working-class White politicians than I do with Rishi Sunak,” Ahmed mused.

Sunak may be the first British prime minister with Indian heritage, but his race alone does not qualify him to represent the diverse and nuanced views of the 4.2 million people with South Asian heritage who live in Britain today.

“Seeing someone brown becoming prime minister is something to be proud of, and yet it is also possible to vehemently disagree with the politics or the individual,” Jasvir Singh, a barrister and co-founder of South Asian Heritage Month, wrote by email.

“Politics is much, much more than just about color and race.”



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US

Five takeaways from the Florida Senate debate

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CNN
 — 

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Val Demings demonstrated in Tuesday’s Florida Senate debate why they are considered two of the brightest stars by their respective parties.

In a spirited and testy 60-minute debate – the first and only of the race – they traded quick barbs, sharp rebukes and pointed answers, covering a range of issues from abortion and guns to the economy and nuclear war.

Rubio, a one-time presidential candidate who is no stranger to the debate stage, leaned into his legislative achievements and policy proposals while calling his opponent a creature of the political left who hasn’t passed any meaningful bills. Demings, a House impeachment manager during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment proceedings, painted Rubio as a politician who will say and do anything to get reelected and compared his long career in elected office to her time on the police force in Orlando.

The race has largely flown under the radar compared to other hotly contested matchups that could control the fate of the evenly divided Senate. And neither party had plans going into Tuesday to spend much on airtime in the final three weeks. That reality favors Rubio in a state where Republicans have consistently held the electoral edge and now outnumber Democrats in registered voters, putting the onus on Demings Tuesday to seize momentum before early voting begins on Monday in many counties.

Here are five takeaways from the debate.

On a day when President Joe Biden moved to recast the midterm election as a referendum on abortion access, Demings and Rubio tried to pin each other down on where they would draw the line in a post-Roe world.

Rubio said that he is “100% pro-life,” including in cases of rape or incest because “I don’t believe that the value of human life is determined by the circumstances.” But he said he would support legislation with exceptions if it helps get something passed. He is one of nine Republican co-sponsors of a Senate bill to ban abortion nationwide at 15 weeks, which Sen. Lindsey Graham filed in response to the US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs earlier this year.

“We’re never going to get a vote on a law that doesn’t have exceptions, because that’s where the majority of the American people are,” Rubio said. “And I respect and understand that.”

Demings in her response invoked her law enforcement background (she is a former Orlando police officer and chief of police) for the first of several times.

“As a police detective who investigated cases of rape and incest, no, Senator, I don’t think it’s okay for a 10-year-old girl to be raped and have to carry the seed of her rapist,” Demings said.

Pushed by Rubio to define the week she would limit abortion, Demings said she would “support a woman’s right to choose up to the time of viability,” and would let doctors decide when that is. Rubio said that wasn’t good enough.

“She supports no limits of any kind,” he said. “That is out of the mainstream. That is radical.”

In a country perpetually rocked by gun violence, Florida still manages to stand out as a state uniquely affected by mass shootings. Rubio served in the Senate for two of the most notable, which stand as key moments in his political biography. Rubio said he decided to run for reelection to the Senate after the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre. After the 2018 tragedy at a Parkland high school, Rubio faced a crowd at a CNN Town Hall that demanded action and he promised he would work on solutions.

In that town hall event, Rubio said, “I absolutely believe that in this country, if you are 18 years of age, you should not be able to buy a rifle, and I will support a law that takes that right away,” adding, “I think that’s the right thing to do.”

Asked on Tuesday about his vow at that forum to consider age restrictions for certain firearms, Rubio said, “That doesn’t work.”

“I think the solution of this problem is to identify these people that are acting this way and stop them before they act,” Rubio said, pointing to the so-called red flag bill he proposed that would give states tools to implement a process to take guns out of the hands of people flagged as threats by law enforcement. But Rubio voted against a bipartisan gun safety bill that Biden signed into law.

“The fundamental issue is why are these kids, why are these people going out there and massacring these people?” Rubio said. “Because a lot of people own AR-15s and they don’t kill anyone.”

To which Demings responded: “People who are families of victims of gun violence just heard that and they’re asking themselves, ‘What in the hell did he just say?’”

Demings, whose Orlando-based district includes Pulse, said Rubio has done “nothing to help address gun violence and get dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.”

Rubio replied that it’s impossible to legislate criminals.

“The only people that follow these laws are law-abiding citizens,” he said.

Demings responded: “Why don’t we just stop arresting murderers since we can’t find them all?”

Out of the gate, Rubio and Demings were asked about Hurricane Ian, the massive Category 4 hurricane that pummeled Florida’s Southwest coast last month, and what the country should do to prepare for future super storms.

Demings wasted no time mentioning climate change.

“If we don’t do something about it, we’re going to pay a terrible price for it,” Demings said. “The federal government has got to make sure that FEMA has the resources that it needs to adequately respond, but we gotta get serious about climate change.”

Rubio declined to look ahead, or discuss climate change, and instead focused on emergency response and recovery.

Asked later about the crumbling property insurance in the state, a focal point in the wake of Ian, Rubio called it “a state issue.”

Demings shot back that if it is a state issue then Rubio had a chance to address the problem when he was speaker of the Florida House.

“He’s been in elected office since 1998 and insurance of Florida has tripled and people are suffering,” Demings said. “I sent a letter to Governor (Ron) DeSantis saying, ‘Yes, I know it’s a state issue. But how can we work together to lower the costs of property insurance for Floridians because people are suffering?’”

Rubio said he did address it in the Florida House.

“You know who the governor was at the time? Charlie Crist, your gubernatorial candidate,” Rubio quipped. “I think you’ve endorsed him. So you should ask him if it didn’t work, but we certainly supported it.”

While Trump has loomed large in many of the midterm contests this cycle, he was hardly mentioned in a debate in a race that will determine who will represent the former President in Washington.

Demings, in fact, never mentioned Trump at all.

Nor did DeSantis, the state’s consequential Republican governor, get much airtime.

But the other top Republican in the state – Sen. Rick Scott, the head of the Senate GOP campaign arm – was the topic of discussion on Social Security and Medicare.

Rubio was asked about Scott’s 11-point “Rescue America” plan, which included a provision to sunset all federal programs every five years, including the popular entitlement programs.

Rubio quickly dismissed the idea. “That’s not my plan.”

“You should ask him,” Rubio said.

A segment focused on immigration policy started with the moderator asking Rubio about Biden’s new policy to stem the flow of Venezuelan migrants by having them apply to arrive in the US at ports of entry, not the Mexico-US border.

Rubio summarized it thusly: “Joe Biden just instituted Trump’s ‘Return to Mexico’ policy.”

“This cannot continue. It has to be fixed,” he added. “That needs to happen with everyone that’s trying to come across but we’re gonna have 10,000 people a day coming. And we can’t afford it. No country in the world can tolerate that.”

The Republican then put Demings on the defensive over the number of people who have crossed into the United States since Biden took office while also attempting to appear sympathetic to the people fleeing brutal regimes in South America. Florida is home to many Latino communities, including the largest population of Venezuelans living in the US.

“No one has done more on the issue of Venezuela than I have,” Rubio said. “And Cuba and Nicaragua.”

Demings, too, attempted to straddle her party’s support for migrants seeking asylum without appearing indifferent to the concerns about the activity at the Southern border. She said she supported adding border patrol agents, investing in unspecified technology and hiring more people to process migrants moving through the legal immigration system.

“We’re a nation of laws,” Demings said. “We have to enforce the law but we also obey the law that says people who were in trouble can seek asylum in this country.”

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World

5 things to know for Oct. 17: Hearing aids, Ukraine, January 6, Immigration, Nigeria

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CNN
 — 

‘Tis the season for overpriced costumes and confiscating unwrapped candy. Halloween is right around the corner and several cities may boast about being the spookiest place in the US – but only three cities have the haunting histories to truly earn the title.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

(You can get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

For the first time, adults in the US will be able to buy over-the-counter hearing aids beginning today instead of getting a prescription and having to wait for a custom fitting. According to the FDA, adults with mild to moderate hearing loss can now buy hearing aids directly from a store or online – and for a lower price. The high cost of hearing aids has long been a barrier for many people who have hearing problems. Traditional prescription hearing aids cost on average $2,000 per ear, and many people need two of them. While those who are under 18 or who have severe hearing loss will still need a prescription, experts are calling the move a “game changer.” Tens of millions of people have hearing loss, but only about 16% of them use a hearing aid, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Air raid sirens rang out in Ukraine today as Russia attacked Kyiv with “kamikaze” drones, according to Ukrainian officials, who repeated their calls for Western allies to supply Ukraine with more advanced air defense systems. Kamikaze drones, or suicide drones, are small, portable aerial weapon systems that are hard to detect and can be fired at a distance. They can be easily launched and are designed to hit behind enemy lines and be destroyed in the attack. The Ukrainian military and US intelligence say Russia is using Iranian-made drones, but Iran denies supplying Russia with such weapons. The attacks come after Moscow fired hundreds of missiles at civilian targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine last week.

CNN on scene in Kyiv after ‘Kamikaze’ drones hit Ukrainian capital

President Joe Biden said on Saturday the video and testimony shared at last week’s January 6 hearing was “devastating” and said the committee overall has made an “overwhelming” case. The final hearing ahead of the midterms from the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol revealed new evidence and testimony that then-President Donald Trump knew he had lost his bid for reelection even as he continued efforts to overturn the results. In a significant move, the January 6 committee also voted last week to subpoena Trump, but it’s not expected that he will comply. A member of the committee also told CNN on Sunday the panel will ask former Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato to testify again. The committee believes Ornato was a central figure who could provide valuable information about Trump’s movements and intentions leading up to and during the riot. 

Why Jan. 6 committee is asking Secret Service agent to testify again

With the arrival of migrant buses showing no sign of slowing, officials in New York City have constructed large emergency tents that will soon house hundreds of people traveling from the southern border. This comes after NYC Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency last week, warning that the growing number of new arrivals was overwhelming homeless shelters, straining resources and could end up costing the city $1 billion. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he has no plans to stop sending the buses, arguing that he’s exposed liberal leaders who are buckling under pressure that’s a fraction of what border states like his deal with daily. According to the latest tally from New York this weekend, more than 19,400 asylum seekers had entered the city’s shelter system in recent months.

More than 600 people have been killed in the worst flooding Nigeria has seen in a decade, the country’s humanitarian affairs ministry said in a statement on Sunday. According to the ministry, more than 2 million people have been affected by flooding that has spread across parts of the country’s south after a particularly wet rainy season. More than 200,000 homes have been destroyed or partially damaged, the ministry added. Earlier this month, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency warned of catastrophic flooding for various states, noting that three of Nigeria’s overfilled reservoirs were expected to overflow. 

NASA images show decimating reach of worst flood this region has seen in a decade

This Netflix show breaks the record for most jump scares in one episode

If loud noises or lightning-fast effects make you jump easily, beware of this new show on Netflix. 

25 creepy-cute dishes for a Halloween potluck

Bone appétit! Who can resist goblin up these festive appetizers and snacks?

Tennessee football fans tear down goalpost, throw it into river

It got pretty rowdy after the University of Tennessee football team defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide. Watch the video here.

What will happen to all those stuffed bears left as tribute for the Queen?

You guessed it. All of those cute Paddington Bears will be donated to a children’s charity, Buckingham Palace announced.

How Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Ross offer such deep discounts

If you’re a fan of designer deals, you’re in luck. Analysts say that the current inventory pileup across retail stores will make its way to off-price chains. 

7 billion

That’s about how many snow crabs disappeared from the waters around Alaska in recent years, resulting in the cancellation of the Alaska snow crab harvest for the first time ever. Officials cited overfishing as their rationale for canceling the harvest season, but human-caused climate change is also a significant factor in the crabs’ alarming disappearance, according to Michael Litzow, a lab director for NOAA Fisheries.

“I’m your chef, I’m not your doctor.”

– Restauranteur and celebrity chef Guy Fieri, responding to criticism about the type of food he features on his show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace, Fieri acknowledged that some of the dishes featured on his show could be unhealthy if consumed in large quantities. But he added that viewers should be responsible about their eating choices and “eat in moderation.”

Wild temperature swings in the East as the Mississippi River sees some relief


01:42

– Source:
CNN

Check your local forecast here>>>

Living in the Netherlands’ futuristic homes

It may look like aliens live here, but the only inhabitants in this futuristic village are humans. (Click here to view)

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