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UK drops plans to challenge ICC arrest warrant request against Benjamin Netanyahu
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said Friday that the U.K. will not interfere with the International Criminal Court’s request for an arrest warrant against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The announcement is reversal of plans announced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was ousted earlier this month when Starmer's Labour Party swept Conservatives from office in a landslide.
“This was a proposal by the previous government which was not submitted before the election, and which I can confirm the government will not be pursuing in line with our long-standing position that this is a matter for the court to decide,” a Starmer spokesperson said.
The court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, accused Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders condemned the move as disgraceful and antisemitic. U.S. President Joe Biden also criticized the prosecutor and supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas — as did Sunak.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan sought warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in May over Israel’s war in Gaza, a symbolic blow that deepened Israel’s isolation over the war in Gaza.
Israel is not a member of the court. Even if warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. But the threat of arrest could make it harder for them to travel.
The ICC had set a deadline for Friday for the government to file a challenge.
Starmer’s decision puts the U.K. at odds with America, though his office on Friday described the decision as based in a strong belief in the separation of powers and the rule of law domestically and internationally.
The issue is a tricky one for Starmer and his party.
Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, has been under pressure from his party to take a tougher stand on the ongoing crisis in Gaza. London has also been the scene of huge protests decrying Israel’s actions intended to root out Hamas militants and has also reported record levels of antisemitic incidents.
Labour lost support and seats they had been expected to win after Starmer initially refused to call for a cease fire shortly after Israel retaliated for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants. The party is still recovering from the stain of a scandal involving antisemitism allegations against the leadership of his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.
Starmer recently restored funding for the United Nations’ Palestine relief agency UNRWA, which had been suspended by Sunak's government in January.
He has also said the Palestinian state has an “undeniable right” to be recognized as part of a peace process.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International U.K.’s chief executive applauded Starmer's decision not to challenge the action at the Hague court.
“This was a totally misguided intervention by the last government," Deshmukh said. “Instead of trying to thwart the ICC’s much-needed Palestine investigation, the U.K. should be backing efforts to bring all perpetrators of war crimes and possible genocide to justice.”
Taiwan sees flooding and landslides from Typhoon Gaemi, which caused 22 deaths in the Philippines
Taiwan has seen flooding in low-lying areas, along with landslides and damage to homes and shops after Typhoon Gaemi made landfall on the island.
The storm swept up the western Pacific, leaving 22 people dead in the Philippines from flooding and landslides, and three in Taiwan, with more than 220 reported injured.
Offices and schools in Taiwan were closed for the second consecutive day on Thursday and people were urged to stay home and away from the coastline.
The island is regularly hit by typhoons and has boosted its warning systems, but its topography, high population density and high-tech economy make it difficult to avoid losses when such storms hit.
The capital, Taipei, was unusually quiet, with light rain falling and occasionally gusting winds.
In the Philippines, the death toll rose due to drownings and landslides. At least three people are missing, according to police.
The Philippine coast guard reported that an oil tanker, MT Terra Nova, loaded with about 1.4 million liters (370,000 gallons) of industrial fuel oil sank off Limay town in Bataan province early Thursday and rescuers saved 15 of 16 crew members.
It’s not immediately clear if the sinking was related to the bad weather and rough seas but Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said coast guard personnel could not immediately reach the area to contain a possible oil spill because of the rough sea conditions.
The storm prompted the cancellation of air force drills off Taiwan’s east coast.
Gaemi, called Carina in the Philippines, did not make landfall in that archipelago but enhanced its seasonal monsoon rains.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered authorities to speed up efforts to deliver food and other aid to isolated rural villages.
“People there may not have eaten for days,” Marcos said in a televised emergency meeting.
In the densely populated region around the Philippine capital, government work and school classes were suspended after rains flooded many areas.
The storm’s effects were expected to continue into Friday as it moved in a northwestern direction toward mainland China. In Fujian province on China’s east coast, ferry routes were suspended on Wednesday and all train service will be halted on Thursday, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said.
Climate protest at Frankfurt Airport forces a temporary halt to flights
Flights at Frankfurt Airport, Germany's busiest, were suspended temporarily Thursday as climate activists glued themselves to the ground inside the airport premises, authorities said. More than 100 flights were canceled.
Federal police said several demonstrators got into the airport in the early morning, German news agency dpa reported. The Last Generation group said six protesters cut holes in the perimeter fence and headed toward the runways on foot, bicycles and skateboards.
The airport said shortly before 8 a.m. that flight operations were “gradually resuming.” Shortly afterward, it said on social network X that all runways were back in operation.
It said that about 140 flights had been canceled so far — roughly one-tenth of the flights that were scheduled for Thursday.
It was the second time in as many days that a protest by Last Generation, which is demanding that the German government negotiate and sign an international agreement on a global exit from the use of oil, gas and coal by 2030, caused disruption at a German airport.
On Wednesday, five protesters glued themselves to a taxiway at Cologne-Bonn Airport, forcing a roughly three-hour halt to flights. That protest resulted in 31 flights being canceled. There were other protests or attempted protests in other European countries.
A string of airport protests in recent years have caused disruption to flights.
Last week, the German Cabinet approved legislation that would impose tougher penalties on people who break through airport perimeters.
The bill, which still requires approval by lawmakers, foresees punishment ranging up to a two-year prison sentence for people who intentionally intrude on airside areas of airports such as taxiways or runways, endanger civil aviation, or enable someone else to. So far, such intrusions can only draw a fine. A sentence of up to five years would be possible in some cases.
Netanyahu to meet with Harris and Biden at crucial moment for US and Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to make a long-awaited White House visit Thursday to meet with President Joe Biden and likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at an important moment for all three politicians.
Netanyahu's White House visit, his first since before former President Donald Trump left office in 2020, comes at a time of growing pressure on all three to find an endgame to the nine-month war that's left more than 39,000 dead in Gaza. What's more, dozens of Israeli hostages —and the remains of others who have died in captivity — are still languishing in Hamas captivity.
Biden is pressing to get Israel and Hamas to seal his proposal to release remaining hostages in Gaza over three phases — something that would be a legacy-affirming achievement for the 81-year-old Democrat who abandoned his reelection bid earlier this week and endorsed Harris. It could also be a boon for Harris in her bid to succeed him.
White House officials say that the negotiations are in the closing stages, but there are still issues that need to be resolved.
Following their midday talks, Biden and Netanyahu will meet the families of American hostages.
Harris, who will meet separately with Netanyahu later, is trying to demonstrate that she has the mettle to serve as commander in chief. She's also being scrutinized by those on the political left who say Biden hasn't done enough to force Netanyahu to end the war and by Republicans looking to brand her as insufficient in her support for Israel.
A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said there is “no daylight between the president and vice president" on Israel. Harris' last one-on-one engagement with Netanyahu was in March 2021, but she's taken part in more than 20 calls between Biden and Netanyahu.
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Netanyahu, meanwhile, is trying to navigate his own delicate political moment. He faces pressure from the families of hostages demanding a cease-fire agreement to bring their loved ones home and from far-right members of his governing coalition who demand he resist any deal that could keep Israeli forces from eliminating Hamas.
Netanyahu, in a fiery address before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, offered a robust defense of Israel's conduct during the war and lashed out against accusations by the International Criminal Court of Israeli war crimes. He made the case that Israel, in its fight against Iran-backed Hamas, was effectively keeping “Americans boots off the ground while protecting our shared interests in the Middle East.” The Israeli leader spent scant time discussing the ongoing negotiations.
“Remember this: Our enemies are your enemies,” Netanyahu told American lawmakers. “Our fight, it’s your fight. And our victory will be your victory. ”
Netanyahu used his speech to praise Biden for his administration's support in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. But Netanyahu also went out of his way to note action that Trump during his four years in office took that benefited Israel, including recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, confronting Iran’s aggression and moving the U.S embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Netanyahu is set to travel to Florida on Friday to meet with Trump.
Netanyahu also slammed protesters who massed near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, calling them Iran’s “useful idiots.” U.S. Secret Service beefed up security at the White House ahead of Netanyahu's visit, erecting additional fencing and barriers near the White House campus.
Trump and his Republican allies criticized Harris, who had events in Indiana and Texas on Wednesday, for skipping Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
The vice president is the presiding officer of the Senate and would typically co-preside over such an event with the House speaker. But there have been other instances in recent history when the vice president has skipped such addresses. Biden, as vice president, skipped an address Netanyahu made to Congress in 2015.
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Harris “should be here whether she likes the prime minister of Israel or not, whether she respects him or not, she should be here,” said Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who organized a news conference with fellow Senate Republicans that largely focused on Harris’ absence from the speech. ”It is a disgrace.”
White House officials said that her absence wasn't a slight and was solely due to scheduling conflicts. Harris spoke on Wednesday to the historically Black sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, before flying to Houston ahead of an address to American Federation of Teachers on Thursday. Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, also skipped the speech to campaign.
“The vice president has been unwavering in her commitment to the security of Israel,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Harris has long spoken of her strong support for Israel. The first overseas trip of her Senate career in early 2017 was to Israel and one of her first acts in office was to introduce a resolution opposing a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel.
She's also spoken of her personal ties to Israel, including memories of raising money as a child to plant trees in Israel, installing a mezuzah near the front door of the vice president's residence in Washington (her husband is Jewish), and her connections to pro-Israel groups including the conservative American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the liberal J Street.
Harris has largely been in lockstep with Biden throughout the conflict, but at moments she's been a front-runner for tougher Biden administration rhetoric on Israel.
She used a high-profile address in March in Selma, Alabama — one day before she met with Netanyahu rival and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz — to decry Palestinians “starving” in the face of “inhumane” conditions and to urge Israel to do more to alleviate civilian suffering in Gaza.
Last year, Israel’s foreign minister Eli Cohen criticized Harris after she appeared to gently rebuke Netanyahu's planned overhaul of the country’s judiciary. Speaking at an Israeli embassy event in Washington, Harris had said that shared values are “the bedrock of the U.S.-Israel relationship” and that democracies are “built on strong institutions, checks and balances, and, I’ll add, an independent judiciary.”
Cohen questioned if Harris had even read the bills in question, saying, “I can tell you that if you ask her what bothers her about the reform, she won’t be able to tell you."
Critics of Biden's handling of the Gaza war will also be watching Harris' interaction with Netanyahu and what she has to say in the days to come about the conflict.
Voters in electoral battlegrounds where anger over Gaza has become a key issue are waiting to see if Harris will be “turning the page on Biden’s disastrous policy," said Layla Elabed, a leader in the “uncommitted” movement of voters that has threatened to withhold support from Biden because of Gaza.
“We hope that Harris does the right thing to save lives and our democracy and uphold international American law," Elabed said.
UAE sentences Bangladeshi nationals to prison over protests against their home government
A court in the United Arab Emirates sentenced dozens of Bangladeshi nationals to prison, including three for life imprisonment, over protests against their home government in the Gulf country, state media reported Monday.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal on Sunday handed 10-year prison sentences to 53 Bangladeshi nationals and an 11-year term to another Bangladeshi national, in addition to the three life imprisonments, according to the state-owned Emirates News Agency, WAM. The court ordered the deportation of the Bangladeshis from the UAE following their prison terms.
“The court heard a witness who confirmed that the defendants gathered and organised large-scale marches in several streets of the UAE in protest against decisions made by the Bangladeshi government,” WAM reported.
On Saturday, authorities in the United Arab Emirates ordered an investigation and an expedited trial of the arrested Bangladeshi nationals.
The protests in the UAE followed weeks of demonstrations in Bangladesh by people upset about a quota system that reserved up to 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971. The country's top court on Sunday scaled back the controversial system, in a partial victory for the mostly student protesters.
The UAE's attorney general's office on Saturday indicted the Bangladeshis on several charges, including “gathering in a public place and protesting against their home government with the intent to incite unrest,” obstructing law enforcement, causing harm to others and damaging property, according to WAM.
Bangladeshi nationals make up the UAE’s third-largest expatriate community. Many of them are low-paid laborers seeking to send money back home to their families. The Emirates’ overall population of more than 9.2 million is only 10% Emirati.
Political parties and labor unions are banned in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms. Broad laws severely restrict freedom of speech and almost all major local media are either state-owned or state-affiliated outlets.
200,000 people were abused in New Zealand institutions that failed for decades to stop it
New Zealand’s wide-ranging independent inquiry into the abuse of children and vulnerable adults in care over the span of five decades released a blistering final report Wednesday that found the country’s state agencies and churches failed to prevent, stop or admit to the abuse of those they were supposed to look after — even when they knew about it.
The scale of the abuse was “unimaginable” with an estimated 200,000 people abused in seven decades, the report said. Scrutiny of state and faith-run institutions was lax and predators rarely faced repercussions.
In response to the findings, New Zealand’s government agreed for the first time that historical treatment of some children in a notorious state-run hospital amounted to torture, and pledged an apology to all those abused in state, foster and religious care since 1950. But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it was too soon to divulge how much the government expected to pay in compensation — a bill the inquiry said would run to the billions of dollars — or to promise that officials involved in denying and covering up the abuse would lose their jobs.
The publication of findings by the Royal Commission — the highest level of inquiry that can be undertaken in New Zealand — capped a six-year investigation that followed two decades of similar probes around the world, echoing other nations’ struggles to reckon with authorities’ transgressions against children removed from their families and placed in state and religious care.
The results were a “national disgrace,” the inquiry’s report said. Of 650,000 children and vulnerable adults in state, foster, and church care between 1950 and 2019 — in a country that today has a population of just 5 million — nearly a third endured physical, sexual, verbal or psychological abuse. Many more were exploited or neglected, the report said. The figures were likely higher, though precise numbers would never be known because complaints were disregarded and records were lost or destroyed.
“These gross violations occurred at the same time as Aotearoa New Zealand was promoting itself, internationally and domestically, as a bastion of human rights and as a safe, fair country in which to grow up as a child in a loving family,” the inquiry heads wrote, using both the Māori and English names for the country.
“If this injustice is not addressed, it will remain as a stain on our national character forever," read the 3,000-page report.
Hundreds of survivors and their supporters filled the public gallery Wednesday in New Zealand’s Parliament, where lawmakers responded to the findings.
The report lambasted some senior figures in government and faith institutions, who it said continued to cover up and excuse abuse throughout public hearings into the matter. Many of the worst episodes had long been common knowledge, it said, and officials at the time of the abuse were “either oblivious or indifferent” about protecting children, instead shoring up the reputations of their institutions and of abusers.
The inquiry made 138 recommendations across all areas of New Zealand law, society and government. It adds to dozens of interim recommendations in 2021 that urged swift redress for those abused, some of whom were sick or dying — of which little has been enacted.
The government pledged Wednesday to supply answers by the end of the year about plans for redress, although the inquiry decried the scant progress made by successive governments to date.
The fresh recommendations include seeking apologies from state and church leaders, including Pope Francis, for the abuse of children and vulnerable adults and for disbelieving decades of accounts. The inquiry also endorsed creating dedicated offices to prosecute abusers and enact redress, renaming the streets and monuments that are currently dedicated to abusers, reforming civil and criminal law, rewriting the child welfare system, and searching for unmarked graves at psychiatric facilities.
Among investigations worldwide, New Zealand’s inquiry was notable for its scale — the widest-ranging such probe ever undertaken, according to those leading it. It examined abuse in state institutions, foster care, faith-based care, and medical and educational settings, interviewing nearly 2,500 survivors of abuse.
Children were removed arbitrarily and unfairly from their families, the report said, and the majority of New Zealand’s criminal gang members and prisoners are believed to have spent time in care.
As in Australia and Canada, Indigenous children were targeted for placement in harsher facilities and subject to worse abuse. The majority of children in care were Māori, despite the group comprising less than 20% of New Zealand’s population during the period examined.
The average cost of abuse in a survivor's lifetime is 857,000 New Zealand dollars ($508,000), the inquiry found. Health care and other government-funded measures account for less than a quarter of that cost, while the remainder quantifies the toll on the survivor of their pain, suffering, lost opportunities and early death.
Those abused have had little recourse under New Zealand law to sue or seek compensation, with some accepting small out-of-court settlements. As recently as 2015, New Zealand governments rejected the need for such an inquiry and government agencies argued that abuse had not been endemic.
Tu Chapman, a survivor and advocate, attended Parliament on Wednesday, where she told The Associated Press that immediate action was needed on redress to prove that the government took the findings seriously.
“Announce the redress system as soon as possible,” she said. “Further delay is just impacting survivors even more who have waited 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years.”
In comments to reporters Wednesday ahead of the report’s release, Luxon said the government now heard and believed survivors, and that he had been shocked by the findings.
“New Zealanders just don’t think this thing would happen, that abuse on this scale would ever happen in New Zealand,” the prime minister said. “We always thought that we were exceptional and different, and the reality is we’re not.”
Luxon said that when survivors tried to speak up with “horrific and harrowing” stories of abuse, the people charged with protecting them “turned a blind eye.” The findings marked “a dark and sorrowful day” for the country, Luxon added.
While he could not yet say which recommendations he would commit to enacting, he said the government would formally apologize to survivors on Nov. 12.
Following Luxon’s speech, hundreds of survivors stood and sang a Māori song in an emotional scene.
Karen Chhour, a lawmaker for the libertarian ACT party who grew up in state care, told Parliament that New Zealand had “tolerated rape and abuse of vulnerable people and the abuse of power” for too long.
“It’s time we faced this poison that is rotting our nation from the inside,” said Chhour, whose party is a member of the governing bloc.
Children and vulnerable adults were “devalued and dehumanized,” said Chris Hipkins, leader of Labour — New Zealand's main opposition party, which commissioned the inquiry while in power. The episode was “a nationwide intergenerational shame” that was far from over, he added.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, an opposition lawmaker and co-leader of the Māori Party, said she did not accept the government needed time to digest the report.
“What the hell has changed for us?” Ngarewa-Packer asked Parliament on Wednesday, referring to what the inquiry said was continuing abuse of people in care — and current government crackdowns on gangs and youth offenders, many of whom spent time in care.
The report singled out churches — particularly the Catholic Church — as failing to address or prevent abuse. As many as 42% of those in faith-based care by all denominations were abused, according to a report produced for the inquiry. The Catholic Church said in a 2020 briefing to the commission that accusations had been made against 14% of its New Zealand clergy during the time covered by the inquiry.
In one recommendation, the inquiry’s authors exhorted an investigation into priests from one Catholic order who had been sent to Papua New Guinea to evade accusations of abuse in Australia and New Zealand, adding that little was known about “the nature and extent of abuse and neglect there or the needs of potential survivors.”
Senior Catholic figures in New Zealand said in a written statement Wednesday that they had received the report and “will now read and review it carefully.”
Germany carries out raids and bans a group accused of links to Iran and support for Hezbollah
The German government on Wednesday banned a Hamburg-based organization accused of promoting the Iranian leadership's ideology and supporting Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, as police raided 53 properties around the country.
The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and five suborganizations around Germany followed searches in November. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said evidence gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.”
The IZH “promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” while it and its suborganizations “also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism,” Faeser said in a statement.
Her ministry said that “as the direct representative of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution," the IZH disseminates “the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in an aggressive and militant way and seeks to bring about such a revolution in the Federal Republic of Germany.”
The group, which runs a mosque in Hamburg, has long been under observation by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, which said in its annual report for 2023 that it is Iran's most important representative in Germany beside the country's embassy.
It said there were no reliable figures for members or supporters of the group, founded in 1962. There have been calls for it to be banned for years.
The IZH said last fall that it “condemns every form of violence and extremism and has always advocated peace, tolerance and interreligious dialogue.”
The Interior Ministry said that, while the group tries to present itself as a tolerant and purely religious organization without political ties or a political agenda, “investigations have confirmed without a doubt that the IZH’s activities are not simply religious in nature.” It said the group's purpose and activities are opposed to Germany's constitutional order.
The ministry said that because of the ban, four Shiite mosques in Germany will be closed. The IZH's assets are also being confiscated.
Hezbollah is banned in Germany. The Iranian-backed group and Israel have been trading near-daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza broke out in October.
Ukraine's foreign minister seeking 'common ground' with China in talks on ending war with Russia
Ukraine's foreign minister said Wednesday that he is seeking “common ground” in talks with his Chinese counterpart on ending his country's war with Russia.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year, has strained relations between the two countries.
Video released by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry showed Dmytro Kuleba arriving at the meeting venue in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and exchanging remarks with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It is the first visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister since the war started in 2022.
Wang said that China attaches great importance to its relations with Ukraine. Noting the growth in trade between the two countries, he said that their relations have continued to develop normally “despite complex and ever-changing international and regional situations.”
China has close ties with Russia and has pushed for an end to the war that would take into account the interests of both sides. That position has put it at odds not only with Ukraine but also Western European countries and the United States, which are demanding a Russian withdrawal as the basis for any settlement.
China did not participate in a peace conference in Switzerland last month that did not include Russia.
In a video posted on social media, Kuleba said he would have extensive and detailed negotiations to look for common ground in the pursuit of peace in Ukraine.
“We need to move to a just and stable peace,” he said, according to a translation posted by Euromaiden Press, an English-language news site on Ukraine. "China can play a significant role in this. Let’s go.”
Kuleba arrived in China on Tuesday and is scheduled to depart on Friday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Tuesday that China would “support the international community in gathering more consensus and jointly finding practical ways to resolve the crisis politically.”
Taiwan prepares for a strong typhoon that worsened monsoon rains in the Philippines, killing 13
Taiwan shuttered offices, schools and tourist sites across the island Wednesday ahead of a powerful typhoon that already worsened seasonal rains in the Philippines, killed at least 13 people and displaced 600,000.
Typhoon Gaemi’s outer skirt was bringing heavy rain to much of Taiwan, where a direct landfall was expected Wednesday evening in the northern county of Ylan. Fishing boats were recalled to port amid turbulent seas, while air travelers were rushing to board overseas flights before the storm arrives, amid numerous cancellations.
On Wednesday morning, the typhoon was east of Taiwan moving at 13 kilometers (8 miles) per hour with maximum sustained wind speeds of 162 kilometers (100 miles) per hour, gusting at 198 kilometers (123 miles) per hour, the Central Weather Administration said. In the capital Taipei, heavy rain was falling, but high winds had not yet arrived.
Gaemi, which was called Carina in the Philippines, did not make landfall in the archipelago but enhanced its seasonal monsoon rains. The rains set off at least a dozen landslides and floods over five days, killing at least eight and displacing 600,000 people, including 35,000 who went to emergency shelters, the Philippines’ disaster risk mitigation agency said.
A landslide buried a rural shanty Tuesday in Agoncillo town in Batangas province, and the bodies of a pregnant woman and three children, aged 9 to 15, were dug out Wednesday morning, raising the toll in the country to 13 dead.
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In the densely populated region around the Philippine capital, government work and school classes were suspended after nonstop rains flooded many areas overnight, trapping cars in rising floodwater and stranding people in their homes. Residents who ventured out of their homes waded into knee- and waist-high floodwaters with some using improvised dinghies and paddling their way alongside cars, trucks and SUVs.
"I have instructed all concerned agencies to provide swift assistance to all those affected by Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a statement he posted on the X social media platform.
The Philippine coast guard said more than 350 passengers and cargo truck drivers and workers were stranded in seaports after ferries and cargo ships were prohibited from venturing into rough seas. It added that coast guard personnel helped more than 200 residents evacuate a coastal village in Batangas province south of Manila where storm-tossed waves have hit coastal houses.
The storm prompted the cancellation of air force drills off Taiwan’s east coast and ferry services Tuesday.
Despite occasional flooding, Taiwan has substantially improved its resiliency through early warnings and preparations. The effects of the storm were expected to continue into Friday as it moved in a northwestern direction toward mainland China.
Protesters rally peacefully at GOP convention for abortion and immigrant rights, end to war in Gaza
Hundreds of demonstrators converged Monday on downtown Milwaukee to protest around the Republican National Convention, following through on their long-standing plans to rally outside the site despite the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The protests were peaceful, as organizers had promised they would be. Only two people were arrested.
A wide range of organizations and activists gathered in a downtown park outside the Fiserv Forum's security perimeter to listen to speakers ahead of a street march coordinated by The Coalition to March on the RNC. The coalition, comprised largely of local groups, supports abortion and immigrant rights and is pressing to end the war in Gaza.
The atmosphere was festive, with music playing over loud speakers, a man strumming a guitar and vendors selling T-shirts and buttons supporting both Republicans and Democrats. One protester wore an orange prison jumpsuit with a giant Trump cutout for a face. Activists carried signs that read, “Stand with Palestine,” “We Can No Longer Afford the Rich,” and “Defend and Expand Immigrant Rights.”
At one point a group of demonstrators got in an argument with counter-protesters who denounced LGBTQ+ rights, Muslims, Black Lives Matter and women.
Counter-protester Rich Penkoski of Stillwater, Oklahoma, bellowed through a bullhorn that women should go home and make sandwiches for their husbands. The demonstrators eventually walked away from the counter-protesters as police looked on.
At noon, the demonstrators set off on the march around the arena's security perimeter in temperatures approaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), chanting “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Republicans have got to go” and “This is what democracy looks like." Many carried Palestinian flags.
Marchers passed within a block of Fiserv Forum on the edge of the arena's security zone before returning to the downtown park where they began. The Milwaukee Police Department estimated the crowd at between 700 and 800 people.
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The Philadelphia-based group Poor People’s Army, which advocates for economic justice, marched later Monday.
Perennial Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein addressed the group, calling for less military spending and larger investments in public education, social housing and health care. She didn't mention the assassination attempt.
Cheri Honkala, 60, said she traveled to Milwaukee from one of the poorest districts in Pennsylvania to “send a strong message to all politicians” that people living below the poverty line “are not surviving.”
Honkala said she was nervous after the attempted assassination of Trump about potential encounters with law enforcement officers and counter protesters while she marches with the Poor People’s Army. But she said she wasn’t deterred.
“The climate is definitely a scary one," she said, "but you know what’s scarier? Not saying anything.”
Milwaukee police said two people were arrested Monday as of 9:30 p.m. One was cited for disorderly conduct after police said he intentionally disrupted protesters and the other person was arrested after police said she intentionally blocked a vehicle check point.
By Monday night, the streets of downtown Milwaukee were largely quiet.
At one of the convention’s main entrances, a sole anti-Trump protester stood holding a sign, telling those entering the arena to “enjoy the clown show.”
Anthony Marlow, a retired sanitation worker, said he had spent the day protesting the convention, arguing at times with Trump supporters.
“I want them to know they are not welcome in this great city,” he said. Referencing Trump’s reported denigration of Milwaukee weeks earlier, Marlow said Trump doesn’t appreciate Milwaukee.
The attempted assassination of Trump on Saturday night in Pennsylvania prompted widespread calls to improve security and raised questions about Trump's safety in Milwaukee — he arrived in the city on Sunday — as well as that of other convention-goers.
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U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Monday that the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies have “reviewed and strengthened” the convention security plan and they will continuously adapt their operations as needed. She added that the Secret Service also has made changes to Trump's security detail. She didn't elaborate.
A heavy police presence in the city was assured, with officers from multiple jurisdictions providing security. Pentagon officials said 1,700 National Guard troops, mostly from Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, were on active duty at the convention as well. Milwaukee officials and federal authorities have repeatedly said their priority is safety and insist they've made free speech accommodations.
Many activists are using the experience in Milwaukee to prepare for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month. That event is expected to draw even more people, and Chicago police have been undergoing training on constitutional policing and preparing for the possibility of mass arrests.