Tag: u.n.
Nikki Haley

'Are You Trying To Lose?' Haley Rips Republican For Misogynist Remarks

One Republican U.S. Senate hopeful in a must-win race recently made a statement painting all women voters with a broad brush, and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley is urging him to stop harming his candidacy.

On Monday, businessman Bernie Moreno — who is facing off against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in November — expressed frustration with women voters, characterizing them as "single-issue" voters when it comes to abortion rights, and even made a dig at women over 50. Moreno made the comment at a town hall in Warren County, Ohio, which is a swing county in the southwestern part of the state.

“You know, the left has a lot of single issue voters,” Moreno told the audience. “Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ … OK. It’s a little crazy by the way, but — especially for women that are like past 50 — I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.'”

Haley lambasted Moreno in a tweet on Tuesday including a portion of his comments and a link to an article on local NBC affiliate WCMH.

"Are you trying to lose the election?" She wrote. "Asking for a friend."

Moreno's comment could prove costly in Ohio's Senate race. The Buckeye State is reliably red, having voted for former President Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020 by comfortable margins. And it has a Republican trifecta state government, in which both chambers of the legislature and the governor's mansion are all under GOP control. But the abortion issue has been described as a "silver bullet" for Democrats.

Despite Ohio losing its swing state status, the 2023 election revealed abortion to be the GOP's Achilles heel. A solid majority of Ohio voters enshrined abortion rights into their state's constitution last fall, continuing abortion rights' undefeated streak on state ballot measures since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Because Republicans are currently two seats in the minority in the U.S. Senate, Moreno's campaign is all the more crucial to the GOP in its efforts to retake the upper chamber of Congress. FiveThirtyEight's aggregation of Ohio U.S. Senate polls show the race between Moreno and Brown is within the margin of error, and it could very well be decided by women voter turnout.

Assuming West Virginia's open Senate seat — following the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) — goes to the GOP this fall, Republicans will only need to flip one more Senate seat in order to retake the majority. This means winning either Ohio's Senate race or defeating Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in November. While Tester is between five and six points behind Republican Tim Sheehy in polls, he leads him in overall cash on hand by roughly $10 million heading into October.

Elsewhere, Republicans are finding themselves in tougher-than-expected Senate races in the reliably red states of Florida and Texas. Former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL) and Rep. Collin Allred (D-TX) are both within the margin of error of Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

US Joins Russia To Block UN Condemnation Of Turkish Military Strike

US Joins Russia To Block UN Condemnation Of Turkish Military Strike

Donald Trump continues to send mixed messages about Turkey’s expansion of military action in Syria.

Despite Trump’s recent criticism of the Turkish offensive targeting American allies in the region — after he effectively paved the way for the strikes earlier in the week — the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations wouldn’t join international condemnations of Turkey on Thursday.

“As the president has made abundantly clear, the United States has not in any way endorsed the decision of the government of Turkey to mount a military incursion into Northeast Syria,” Kelly Craft, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said following a closed-door meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

However, Craft’s statement only warned of vague “consequences” if Turkey failed “to play by the rules, to protect vulnerable populations … to guarantee that ISIS cannot exploit these actions to reconstitute.”

According to the Washington Post, as well as a report from Turkish state-run media, the 15-nation U.N. Security Council failed to issue a joint statement condemning Turkey’s incursion into the Kurdish region of Syria after the United States and Russia objected.

Instead, representatives of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Poland denounced Erdogan’s actions after the council’s closed-door meeting.

Trump has threatened to “totally destroy and obliterate” Turkey’s economy after receiving intense scrutiny from numerous members of Congress — including many high-profile Republicans.

With American support, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have liberated multiple Syrian cities that were once controlled by ISIS. U.S. intelligence officials have estimated that Trump’s decision to abandon the SDF could result in the release of 12,000 ISIS prisoners.

Trump’s refusal to contribute to the U.N. hasn’t been limited to diplomacy: The international organization is currently in severe debt, thanks in large part to the $1 billion that Trump’s government still owes it.

Published with permission of The American Independent.

Israel Pressing Ahead With Settlements Despite U.N. Vote

Israel Pressing Ahead With Settlements Despite U.N. Vote

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Jerusalem municipality, undeterred by a U.N. anti-settlement resolution, is due to consider on Wednesday requests for construction permits for hundreds of new homes for Israelis in areas that Israel captured in 1967 and annexed to the city.

Israel is still fuming over the resolution approved last Friday by the United Nations Security Council that demands an end to settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel has also described as “shameful” the decision of its long-standing ally the United States to abstain in the vote rather than wield its veto. The Obama administration is a strong opponent of the settlements.

An agenda published by Jerusalem City Hall listed applications for at least 390 new homes whose approval looks certain to intensify international and Palestinian opposition to the Israeli settlement-building.

The Municipal Planning and Construction panel usually meets on Wednesdays and the permit requests were filed before the Security Council resolution.

Settler leaders and their supporters have been urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step up construction in East Jerusalem, accusing him of having slowed its pace last year because of international pressure.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday that 1,506 housing units for Israelis have already been approved in East Jerusalem this year, compared with 395 in 2015.

The Jerusalem municipality said in a statement on Tuesday it would “continue to develop the capital according to zoning and building codes, without prejudice, for the benefit of all residents”.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its united capital, a stance not supported by the international community. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they seek to establish in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Some 570,000 Israelis live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, in settlements that most countries consider to be illegal and the United States terms illegitimate. Israel disputes that, citing historical, political and Biblical links to the areas, as well as security concerns.

The new U.N. resolution changes nothing on the ground between Israel and the Palestinians and will probably be all but ignored by the incoming U.S. administration of Donald Trump.

However, Israeli officials fear it could spur further Palestinian moves against Israel in international forums.

A U.S. official said after Friday’s vote that Washington’s decision to abstain was prompted mainly by concern that Israel would continue to accelerate settlement construction and put a two-state solution of the conflict with the Palestinians at risk.

The U.S.-backed peace talks have been stalled since 2014.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis; Editing by Gareth Jones)

IMAGE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his Jerusalem office December 25, 2016. REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool

United Nations Appoints Portugal’s Guterres As Next U.N. Chief

United Nations Appoints Portugal’s Guterres As Next U.N. Chief

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The 193-member United Nations General Assembly appointed former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres on Thursday as the ninth secretary-general of the world body for five years from Jan. 1, 2017.

Guterres, 67, will replace Ban Ki-moon, 72, of South Korea. Ban will step down at the end of 2016 after serving two terms.

Guterres was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

IMAGE: Nominated U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a news conference at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal October 6, 2016. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

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