US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib condemns cartoon showing her with exploding pager

US Representative Rashida Tlaib speaks during a press conference alongside lawmakers and university union members on protecting the right of free speech following a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, May 23, 2024. (REUTERS)
US Representative Rashida Tlaib speaks during a press conference alongside lawmakers and university union members on protecting the right of free speech following a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, May 23, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 21 September 2024
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US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib condemns cartoon showing her with exploding pager

US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib condemns cartoon showing her with exploding pager
  • Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave, and created a humanitarian crisis

WASHINGTON: Palestinian American US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib on Friday condemned as racist a cartoon published in the conservative magazine National Review showing her with an exploding pager — a reference to an attack this week against members of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Our community is already in so much pain right now. This racism will incite more hate + violence against our Arab & Muslim communities, and it makes everyone less safe. It’s disgraceful that the media continues to normalize this racism,” Tlaib wrote on the social media platform X.
Tlaib, a Democrat who represents a district from Michigan in the US House of Representatives, is the lone Palestinian American lawmaker in the US Congress. The Muslim American advocacy group Emgage Action, Democratic US House members Cory Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, some local officials in Michigan and human rights groups also criticized the cartoon.
National Review did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The cartoon, published on Thursday, showed a woman sitting next to an exploding pager. The woman’s desk in the cartoon had a name card saying “Rep. Tlaib” while the woman herself is shown saying: “ODD. MY PAGER JUST EXPLODED.”
The cartoon was created by Henry Payne, a Detroit News auto critic. Payne’s X account titled the cartoon as “Tlaib Pager Hamas.” The Detroit News said it was not involved in its creation and distribution, and chose not to run it.
Thousands of pagers used by members of Hezbollah in Lebanon exploded on Tuesday. That was followed a day later by the explosion of hand-held radios in Lebanon, with dozens killed and thousands wounded in the incidents. Security sources have said Israel was responsible. Israel did not take responsibility.
Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave, and created a humanitarian crisis. Israel’s assault followed an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Tlaib has been a fierce critic of Israel’s actions in the war and American support for the longtime US ally.
Human rights advocates have cited rising dehumanization of Arabs, Muslims and Jews amid the war.

 


200,000 intl troops needed to secure any Ukraine peace: Zelensky

Updated 5 sec ago
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200,000 intl troops needed to secure any Ukraine peace: Zelensky

200,000 intl troops needed to secure any Ukraine peace: Zelensky
Zelensky said that given the small size of the Ukrainian army compared to that of Russia, “we need contingents with a very strong number of soldiers” to secure any peace deal
“From all the Europeans? Two hundred thousand. It’s a minimum. Otherwise, it’s nothing“

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said any peace deal agreed with Russia would require at least 200,000 European peacekeepers to oversee it, according to comments published Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has raised the spectre of some kind of halt in the fighting after he vowed to end the war — though he has never explained how.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos a day earlier, Zelensky said any deal to end the conflict would need to be overseen by a large foreign contingent of peacekeepers.
Zelensky said that given the small size of the Ukrainian army compared to that of Russia, “we need contingents with a very strong number of soldiers” to secure any peace deal.
“From all the Europeans? Two hundred thousand. It’s a minimum. Otherwise, it’s nothing,” he said.
He said any other arrangement would be akin to the monitoring mission led by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in eastern Ukraine that disintegrated when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“They had offices and that’s all,” Zelensky said, underscoring the need from the Ukrainian perspective for an armed force to prevent further Russian attacks.
The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said that Ukraine must be represented at any talks with international parties to end the conflict and that only robust security guarantees can dissuade Russia from attacking again.
Ukraine’s fear that Moscow would use a truce to rebuild its military stems partially from the decade that followed peace agreements between Kremlin-backed separatists and Kyiv in 2014 which failed to halt Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
In an earlier address at Davos, Zelensky called on Europe to establish a joint defense policy and said European capitals should be prepared to increase spending, while calling into question Trump’s commitment to NATO, the US-led security bloc.
Trump on Tuesday indicated he would consider imposing fresh sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin refuses to negotiate a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Afghan suspect arrested after two killed in knife attack in German park

Afghan suspect arrested after two killed in knife attack in German park
Updated 12 min 50 sec ago
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Afghan suspect arrested after two killed in knife attack in German park

Afghan suspect arrested after two killed in knife attack in German park
  • The Afghan suspect was detained at the scene in Schoental park
  • A 41-year old man and a two-year old boy were fatally injured, police said

BERLIN: A 28-year-old man from Afghanistan has been arrested following a knife attack in a park in the German city of Aschaffenburg on Wednesday in which two people were killed, including a toddler, police said.
The suspect was detained at the scene in Schoental park, an English-style garden in the Bavarian city, where the attack occurred at around 1045 GMT.
A 41-year old man and a two-year old boy were fatally injured, police said in a post on social media platform X. Two seriously injured people were receiving hospital treatment.
Police said there was no indication of further suspects and no danger to the public.
The stabbing adds to a string of violent attacks in Germany that have raised concerns over security and stirred up tensions over migration ahead of parliamentary elections on Feb. 23.
A doctor was arrested after a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg on Dec. 20, in which six people were killed and around 200 injured.


Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return

Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return
Updated 49 min 43 sec ago
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Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return

Macron says Europe must protect sovereignty in face of Trump’s return
  • Macron made the remarks at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

PARIS: More than ever, Europeans, including France and Germany, must protect their sovereignty in the face of the return of US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.
He made the remarks at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris, adding that it was important to support the automobile, steel, chemical sectors, among others.
“After the inauguration of a new administration in the United States, it is necessary more than ever for Europeans and for our two countries to play their role of consolidating a united, strong and sovereign Europe,” Macron said.


Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions

Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions
Updated 22 January 2025
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Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions

Malaysia’s Anwar says don’t single out China in sea tensions
  • There will always be border disputes in Asia, and China should not be singled out because of tensions in the South China Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday

DAVOS: There will always be border disputes in Asia, and China should not be singled out because of tensions in the South China Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Anwar said that Malaysia had border issues with Singapore and its other neighbors in Southeast Asia but they still managed to cultivate good relations.
While Malaysia also has maritime issues with China, it will push ahead with improving ties because it is an important country, he said.
“We have excellent relationship with Singapore. We still have border issues with them,” Anwar said.
“I treat the Thais as my family members, the leaders, but still we have some border issues with them. So it is with Indonesia, with the Philippines.
“(But) we don’t go to war, we don’t threaten. We do discuss. We get a bit... angry, but we do focus on the economic fundamentals and move on,” he added.
“Why is it that we must then single out China as an issue?” Anwar asked.
“That’s my only contention. Do I have an issue about it? Yes, but do I have a problem? No. Do we have any undesired tensions? No,” he said.
He said that while Malaysia has strong ties with the United States, China is an important neighbor that it must also engage with.
“Of course, people highlight the issue of the South China Sea... But may I remind you that Malaysia is a maritime country,” he said.
China has been “very reasonable” in dealing with Malaysia, Anwar added.
“They take us seriously, more seriously than many of the countries of our old allies and friends,” he said, without mentioning any country.
China has ruffled diplomatic feathers in Southeast Asia because of its assertion that it owns most of the strategic waterway despite an international ruling that the claim has no legal basis.
This has pitted it against Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, which have partial claims to the sea.
In recent years, China and the Philippines have seen an escalation of confrontations, including boat-ramming incidents and Chinese ships firing water cannons on Filipino vessels.
The clashes have sparked concern they could draw the United States, Manila’s long-time security ally, into armed conflict with China.


Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank

Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank
Updated 22 January 2025
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Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank

Washington’s UN nominee supports Israeli biblical claim to West Bank
  • ‘It’s going to be very difficult to achieve peace if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed,’ senator tells Elise Stefanik
  • Republican congresswoman for New York accuses international body of being ‘cesspool of antisemitism’

LONDON: The new US nominee for UN ambassador has backed Israeli biblical claims to the entire West Bank.

Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman for New York, was being questioned on her stance by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen during a Senate confirmation hearing.

“You told me that, yes, you shared that view,” Van Hollen said. “Is that your view today?” Stefanik said: “Yes.”

Her stance is at odds with international law, multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and a longstanding international consensus on the issue.

“It’s going to be very difficult to achieve peace if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed,” Van Hollen said.

During the hearing, Stefanik criticized the UN for its alleged anti-Israel bias, claiming that the organization is a “cesspool of antisemitism.”

She said: “Our tax dollars should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests, antisemitic, or engaging in fraud, corruption or terrorism.”

The US is the largest funder of the UN and houses its secretariat in New York City. Washington pays about 22 percent of the UN’s regular budget.