Connect with us

News

Talks For Gaza Ceasefire At A Standstill, No Deal Likely By Ramadan

Published

on

gaza israel

According to people involved with the negotiations, a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that would liberate Israeli detainees and mark the first lull in the conflict in more than three months is unlikely to be reached before the start of Ramadan, as the Biden administration had hoped.

Negotiators had planned to reach a draft deal this week following days of sessions in Cairo, “but it won’t happen,” according to one diplomat familiar with the discussions. The diplomat described the last few days of talks as “very hectic.”

Two American officials acknowledged that Israel and Hamas’ chances of reaching an agreement on a temporary truce by the start of the Muslim holy month early next week are poor.

“Hope is fading,” a US official stated.

gaza

Talks For Gaza Ceasefire At A Standstill, No Deal Likely By Ramadan

A failure to reach an agreement in the coming days would follow weeks of US President Joe Biden and administration officials stating that an agreement must be in place by Ramadan to avoid escalation of the five-month conflict. He cautioned on Tuesday that without a ceasefire, the region may become “very, very dangerous.”

Israel has also warned that if the Israeli captives detained in Gaza do not return home by Ramadan, it will launch a military attack into Rafah, southern Gaza, where over 1.5 million Palestinians are attempting to flee the violence.

Representatives from Hamas, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States met in Cairo this week for fresh discussions, but Israel declined to send a delegation because Hamas has failed to produce a list of hostages who are living and dead, as Israel has recently demanded.

The Biden administration argues that Israel has already agreed to the general terms of a six-week truce, but Hamas refuses.

A Hamas team left Cairo on Thursday following days of talks that yielded no apparent progress in achieving a ceasefire in exchange for hostage releases. According to Egypt’s Al Qahera news, the group has left to consult on the recommendations, and negotiations will resume next week.

“It’s in the hands of Hamas right now,” Biden told reporters as he boarded Air Force One Tuesday. He had expressed hope last week that a ceasefire could be in place by this past Monday, which he later recognized was improbable.

The administration and Hamas agree on one thing: they want a temporary, six-week truce to turn into a permanent ceasefire with no resumption of combat. Biden officials have stated that they believe the halt could lead to a more lasting peace, while Israel has stated that they intend to continue operations to dismantle Hamas, notably in Rafah.

The diplomat cautioned that hope is still possible for a first phase to begin soon, stating that an agreement may be reached in the first week or two of Ramadan.

However, the terrible episode last week in Gaza City, in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed when an aid convoy was surrounded and Israeli forces opened fire, “took us back 10 steps,” according to the diplomat. Hamas subsequently provided mediators with a response to a negotiated framework that “no one is happy about.”

If a deal is successful, it is likely to have several phases. During the first stage, when the violence is likely to stop for at least six weeks, around 40 Israeli-old, female, sick, and injured prisoners will be released. Concurrently, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian inmates from Israeli prisons.

According to CNN sources, Hamas had relaxed some of its more rigorous demands, but following last week’s “Flour Massacre,” the group pressed for further assurances. According to the diplomat, the Israeli force would pull back from Gazan cities in the first phase and then completely withdraw from the enclave in the second.

gaza

Talks For Gaza Ceasefire At A Standstill, No Deal Likely By Ramadan

Not only do Palestinians from northern Gaza need to be able to return to what remains of their homes, Hamas has said in the discussions, but they must do so without passing through IDF checkpoints. According to the diplomat, Hamas has requested specific machinery for moving rubble, as well as field hospitals and clinics.

Hamas claimed its delegation left Cairo on Thursday “to consult with the movement’s leadership, as negotiations and efforts continue to stop the aggression, return the displaced, and bring relief aid to our Palestinian people,” according to a statement.

On Wednesday, Hamas claimed that it had “shown flexibility” while Israel continued to “evade the obligations of the agreement” under consideration.

“We have affirmed our conditions for a ceasefire: complete [IDF] withdrawal from the sector, the return of displaced persons to the areas they left, especially in the north, and the provision of sufficient aid, relief, and reconstruction,” Hamas senior leader Osama Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut on Tuesday.

Ramadan, a month of fasting and piety for Muslims, is a “period in which you have calm and you’re able to do the essential humanitarian work,” according to a senior administration official speaking to reporters over the weekend.

According to the United Nations, around one-quarter of Gaza’s population is on the verge of hunger. The Biden administration has stepped up its criticism of Israel’s refusal to open more border crossings to let aid into Gaza, particularly to meet needs in the north.

“There are no excuses,” wrote Biden on X.

Even in the absence of a truce, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Tuesday that it is crucial to “dramatically increase the humanitarian assistance that is reaching people inside of Gaza” because the situation with children, women, and adults caught in the crossfire that Hamas has created inside Gaza is untenable and unsustainable.

Blinken made the remarks before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, a key actor in the ceasefire negotiations. According to a person acquainted with the meeting, Blinken recognized that the pause and hostage arrangement are unlikely to occur before Ramadan begins.

According to the same person, CIA Director Bill Burns, who has been driving the administration’s efforts in the negotiations, met with Thani for an extended period during his visit to Washington.

gaza

Talks For Gaza Ceasefire At A Standstill, No Deal Likely By Ramadan

According to a US official and another person familiar with the trip, Bill Burns has returned to the Middle East.

According to sources, Burns visited Egypt on Wednesday before heading to Qatar on Thursday. According to a US official, Burns is not anticipated to visit Israel during this trip, nor is a “quad” format meeting with Egyptian and Israeli intelligence chiefs, as well as the Qatari Prime Minister, planned, as it was in Paris two weeks ago.

“We continue to believe that the obstacles are not insurmountable and that a deal can be reached,” State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Wednesday when asked about the lack of progress. “The pact benefits Israel. It is in the interests of the Palestinian people. And it is in the best interests of the entire area, so we will continue to fight for one.”

SOURCE – (CNN)

News

Pam Bondi Is Appointed US Attorney General Following Gaetz’s Resignation.

Published

on

Pam Bondi
Photo via Reuters

(VOR News) – President-elect Donald Trump selected Pam Bondi, a former Florida Attorney General and ally, to succeed Matt Gaetz on Thursday after the latter withdrew from consideration.

Gaetz’s drug use and sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old girl were the subject of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. He denies any wrongdoing.

During Trump’s first administration, Pam Bondi, 59, served on the Opioids and Drug Abuse Commission. He served as police chief of the third-most populous state from 2011 to 2019.

She was also a member of Trump’s defense team at his first impeachment hearing, where he was charged with use military assistance to get Ukraine to look into the wrongdoing of his opponent, now President Joe Biden. The Senate cleared Trump on all charges.

The right-wing America First Policy Institute, which has collaborated with Trump’s campaign to create government concepts, most recently had Pam Bondi as its leader of the legal branch.

Unlike Pam Bondi, Gaetz lacks the experience necessary to serve as attorney general and is likely to encounter resistance from Senate Democrats and some Republicans.

According to Jones Walker defense attorney David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Florida, “She is unequivocally qualified for the position on paper.” Throughout her life, she battled in court. She stood out from the previous nominee because to her resume.

In a tweet announcing his intention to nominate Bondi, Trump praised her skills as a prosecutor and her firm stance against crime as Florida’s first female attorney general. Trump said that even though Bondi was elected on November 5th, while numerous state and federal criminal investigations were underway, he pledged to keep federal prosecutions from being politicized.

According to Trump, “The biased Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans for an excessive duration.” Not true anymore.

Discussion about Pam Bondi and Trump’s history before 2016.

In 2013, the Trump Foundation may have broken federal law by giving $25,000 to a political action committee that supported Pam Bondi. Bondi thought about looking into the for-profit Trump University.

Pam Bondi disputed that her decision to end her legal actions against Trump University following the 2016 disclosure of Trump’s $25,000 gift had anything to do with her decision to withdraw from those actions. According to her, all pertinent material was made public by her office.

The erroneous money disclosure was attributed by the Trump team to a “series of unfortunate coincidences and errors.” New York state fraud investigations resulted in the dissolution of both Trump University and the Trump Foundation.

After misleading Trump University students, he settled for $25 million and was fined $2 million for misusing charitable funds.

Following Special Counsel Jack Smith’s acquisition of two indictments against him for his interference in the 2020 election and his possession of secret materials after leaving office, Trump has voiced his displeasure with the present leadership of the Justice Department and pledged retaliation.

AFPI’s Pam Bondi remains loyal to Trump.

She and a number of other lawyers claimed that Smith’s appointment was illegal in an amicus brief they prepared in support of Trump in the secret information litigation. The Justice Department filed an appeal after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, rejected the case.

According to a long-standing rule against charging a sitting president, Smith and other top Justice Department officials are examining how both of the Trump criminal cases were resolved.

During his first administration, Trump was incensed with the Justice Department’s obstructionism. Bill Barr specifically refuted Trump’s baseless claims that he lost the 2020 election due to fraud, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions permitted an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Trump’s overarching objectives for the Justice Department have been delineated through his public remarks, interviews with former department lawyers, and Mark Paoletta, a conservative lawyer who develops the department’s policy.

Federal prosecutors may give illegal immigration cases priority.

To obtain a portion of the department’s $291 million justice assistance award, cities might have to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

It is probable that the Civil Rights Division will refocus its attention from legal challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the public and commercial sectors to police accountability to religious freedom.

SOURCE: EAT

SEE ALSO:

PayPal’s Technical Challenges Are Affecting Thousands Of Customers Globally.

Matt Gaetz Withdraws as Trump’s Pick for Attorney General

 

Continue Reading

News

PayPal’s Technical Challenges Are Affecting Thousands Of Customers Globally.

Published

on

PayPal

(VOR News) – PayPal is a software program that enables the sending and receiving of monetary orders and transactions.

According to the corporation, which has taken responsibility for the incident that was mentioned before, PayPal is apparently experiencing problems in every region of the world in which it conducts business. This information was provided by the company.

In addition, PayPal noted on its service status website that it was experiencing “a system issue” which may affect a variety of PayPal Products, such as the ability to withdraw money from an account and the ability to complete an express checkout. This issue may even hurt the ability to complete an express checkout.

This problem may also affect other PayPal products.

In light of the fact that this vulnerability is present, there are further PayPal products that have the potential to be affected by it.

One of the remarks that was made was that “Our technical teams are actively working towards resolving the issue,” which was stated in the email that was distributed. This was one of the comments that individuals made. A number of assertions were made, and this was one of them all.

Several customers from various regions of the world have stated that they are unable to access their accounts or that they are having difficulty when it comes to making payments. These customers have also mentioned that they are encountering difficulties making payments.

These clients have informed us that they are experiencing difficulties obtaining their orders by communicating their concerns. As an additional point of interest, a number of customers have reported that they are currently having trouble processing payments. This is something that should be taken into consideration.

Up to the moment that the clock struck twelve twelve Central European Time (GMT), the platform outage monitor known as Downdetector had already received more than seven thousand alerts from users. When the clock reached twelve o’clock, this was the situation that existed.

As indicated by a dashboard that provides an overview of the current state of the services that are being offered by the organization, the crisis started at roughly 10:53 UTC.

PayPal gathered this information via the dashboard.

Among the services that were impacted by the outage, the business asserts that its bitcoin services and the peer-to-peer payment platform Venmo were among those that were affected. Venmo is a form of cryptocurrency that enables users to send and receive payments from one another.

This information suggests that these services were among those that were impacted by the circumstances. This information has been provided.

There are consumers who have voiced their frustration on social media over the fact that they are unable to access their accounts, and some of these customers have expressed their frustration over this issue. A number of users have stated their frustration about this issue.

The discontentment that users are experiencing has been communicated through posts that have been published on various social media platforms as of late.

Users of X, which was once known as Twitter, have submitted screenshots of a notification that flashed when they attempted to log into the platform.

The notification appeared after logging in.

The message was flashed on the screen whenever they attempted to log in by entering their credentials. For those individuals who were fortunate enough to receive the notification, it was strongly recommended that they “please check your entries and try again.”

Since its beginning in 1998, PayPal has developed into a global financial institution that is associated with a significance level that is significant enough to be considered noteworthy. The occurrence of this evolution took place virtually immediately following the establishment of PayPal.

Investors were informed that the total number of active accounts across all of the company’s companies had increased to $432 million for the month that ended on September 30th.

This information was provided to investors. Following the conclusion of the month, this information was made available to the public.

During the course of the month of October, investors were provided with this information for the purpose of their consideration. For those individuals who were interested in investing, the material in question was made available to them.

SOURCE: BBC

SEE ALSO:

NVIDIA’s Earnings: The Leader In AI Chips Demonstrates Relentless Growth.

Thousands of Asylum Seekers in Canada Get Free Housing

Continue Reading

News

Thousands of Asylum Seekers in Canada Get Free Housing

Published

on

Asylum Seekers Canada

With a large increase in the number of asylum seekers in Canada, several communities have begun to create free accommodations for new immigrants, while many Canadians remain homeless.

The city of Ottawa is attempting to build a sprung building, which will function as both a temporary shelter and a center for settlement services such as language training and job placement.

These facilities are intended to host refugees in the city for the first few weeks before transitioning to more suitable housing in Ottawa’s settlement infrastructure.

The city has identified two possible sites for these centers, both in the city’s west end. Planning records refer to them as “modular tension fabric buildings.”

The proposed placements for these structures have caused concern in the local areas. The city’s first proposed location was canceled due to strong community opposition. Subsequently, it proposed two alternative options and rallies for and against constructing the structures, which took place last weekend in both locations.

Many people protested that they had not been fully consulted on the location, while others grumbled that nothing was being done to assist Canadian citizens.

Asylum Seekers Canada

Canadian authorities opened a temporary housing center for migrants with 1,050 beds in the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

According to city data, one planned location is a federally owned tract of property near the Nepean Sportsplex, which serves around 1.5 million people annually. The other is near a public transport park-and-ride lot in Kanata’s western suburb.

City Councillor Sean Devine, whose constituency includes the Sportsplex site, stated that citizens have much to say about the problem.

“A lot of it is coming from the fact that it would have been preferable if the city of Ottawa had communicated the information sooner, perhaps in advance of the recommendations,” he told Global News during a telephone interview.

According to Devine, the number of migrants arriving in Ottawa has increased significantly in the last two years. This is consistent with national trends in refugee and asylum seeker rates.

Under Trudeua’s leadership, Canada had approximately 250,000 asylum petitions pending as of September 30, 2024, with more than 33,000 approved between January and the end of September.

International students in Canada filed nearly 14,000 asylum petitions in the first nine months of 2024, a roughly 14% increase over the same period last year. Compared to the present figures, approximately 12,000 asylum applications were lodged by international students in 2023—a tremendous surge from a mere 1,810 claims in 2018.

Devine stated that the city has been using two community center gymnasiums outfitted with bunk beds to temporarily lodge certain claimants before transitioning to other sorts of accommodation.

Asylum seekers get free housing in Quebec and Ontario

Asylum seekers get free housing in Quebec and Ontario.

According to a September release, the Ottawa Mission noticed a considerable increase in refugees filling its shelter beds in the summer of 2023. By October, asylum seekers were using 61% of the beds, a record high under Trudeau’s leadership.

The new structures will be funded under the federal interim housing aid program, which allows municipalities and provinces to reimburse the federal Government for expenditures incurred while temporarily hosting asylum seekers.

Since 2017, well over $1 billion has been distributed, largely in Ontario and Quebec, with the city of Ottawa getting $105 million to date.

Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development, who represents the Ottawa riding of Kanata-Nepean, expressed disappointment with how the plans were presented to people.

Louisa Taylor, executive director of Settlement Service Organization 613 Asylum Seekers, has collaborated with the city to coordinate resources for settlement assistance at future centers.

Taylor explained that many asylum seekers in an Ottawa homeless shelter prompted her and 613 refugees to organize a recent rally supporting the structure.

“For several years, hundreds of refugee claimants have been living and sleeping on bunk beds and cots in community centers and arenas throughout the city.”

Nobody has gone out protesting about it. “What they’re protesting is the concept of having a facility in their community that they don’t know much about,” she explained.

Homeless Canadians

Homelessness is not a problem that most people connect with within Canada, but it is becoming a growing one. The projected number of homeless persons in Canada fluctuates from 150,000 to 300,000, which is increasing.

According to the 2016 State of Homelessness study, Canada had at least 235,000 homeless people. According to the Homeless Hub, the number of homeless people in Canada varies each year, ranging from 150,000 to 300,000.

However, many more people may be without a permanent home in Canada. The actual number is impossible to determine because many homeless people live in concealed places.

They are so named because they temporarily reside in squats or with friends and relatives. An estimated 1.3 million Canadians have experienced insecure housing or homelessness.

Homelessness Statistics for Canadians

  • Between 25,000 and 35,000 people are homeless on any given night in Canada.
  • Toronto has the most homeless people in Canada.
  • 62% of homeless people in Canada are males.
  • 30% of Canadian homeless come from Indigenous communities.
  • 90% of homeless shelters in Canada are in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and Alberta, and 44% of them are in Ontario alone.
  • 22% of shelters are aimed at young homeless in Canada, while 20% of people experiencing homelessness are 13-24 years old.
  • The annual cost of homelessness is over $7 billion.
  • The Canadian Government has invested $2.2 billion over ten years to expand funding for the homeless.

Related News:

Canada Sees Over13,000 Foreign Students Claim Asylum

Canada Sees Over13,000 Foreign Students Claim Asylum

 

Continue Reading

Trending