The U.S. states of Florida, North Carolina and Georgia are dealing with the aftermath of two major hurricanes that killed hundreds of people and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage. With the presidential election less than a month away and the race extremely close, White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara looks at how the storms might affect voting in these states.
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The European Central Bank, which sets interest rates for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, cut borrowing costs once again on Thursday after figures showed inflation across the bloc falling to its lowest level in more than three years and economic growth waning.
The bank’s rate-setting council lowered its benchmark rate from 3.5% to 3.25% at a meeting in Llubljana, Slovenia, rather than its usual Frankfurt, Germany, headquarters.
The rate cut is its third since June and shows optimism among rate-setters over the path of inflation. Inflation sank to 1.8% in September, the first time in three years that it has been below the ECB’s target rate of 2%.
Inflation has been falling more than anticipated — in September, it was down at 1.8%, the first time it has been below the ECB’s target of 2% in more than three years — and analysts think the bank will lower rates in December, too. Mounting evidence that the eurozone is barely growing — just 0.3% in the second-quarter — has only accentuated the view that ECB President Christine Lagarde will not seek to dislodge that expectation.
“The trends in the real economy and inflation support the case for lower rates,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank.
One reason why inflation has fallen around the world is that central banks dramatically increased borrowing costs from near zero during the coronavirus pandemic when prices started to shoot up, first as a result of supply chain issues built up and then because of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine which pushed up energy costs.
The ECB, which was created in 1999 when the euro currency was born, started raising interest rates in the summer of 2021, taking them up to a record high of 4% in Sept. 2023 to get a grip on inflation by making it more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow, but that has come at a cost by weighing on growth.
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An independent panel investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally faulted the Secret Service for poor communications that day and failing to secure the building where the gunman took his shots. The review also found more systemic issues at the agency such as a failure to understand the unique risks facing Trump and a culture of doing “more with less.”
The 52-page report issued Thursday took the Secret Service to task for specific problems leading up to the July 13 rally in Butler as a well as deeper one within the agency’s culture. It recommended bringing in new, outside leadership and refocusing on its protective mission.
“The Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission,” the authors wrote Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the Homeland Security Department, the Secret Services’ parent agency, in a letter accompanying their report. “Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again.”
One rallygoer was killed and two others wounded when Thomas Michael Crooks climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and opened fire as Trump spoke. The former president was wounded in the ear before being rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents. That shooting, along with another incident in Florida when Trump was golfing — a gunman there never got a line of site on the president or fired a shot — has led to a crisis in confidence in the agency.
The report by a panel of four former law enforcement officials from national and state government follows investigations by members of Congress, the agency’s own investigators and by Homeland Security’s oversight body.
A look at the report’s key findings and recommendations:
Poor communications, no plan for key buildings
The panel echoed previous reports that have zeroed in on the failure to secure the building near the rally that had a clear line of site to where Trump was speaking and the multiple communications problems that hindered the ability of the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement to talk to each other.
“The failure to secure a complex of buildings, portions of which were within approximately 130 yards of the protectee and containing numerous positions carrying high-angle line of sight risk, represents a critical security failure,” the report said.
The panel faulted the planning between Secret Service and the local law enforcement, and said the Secret Service failed to ask about what was being done to secure the building: “Relying on a general understanding that ‘the locals have that area covered’ is simply not good enough and, in fact, at Butler this attitude contributed to the security failure.”
The panel also cited the fact that there were two separated command posts at the Butler rally: one with various local law enforcement and another with the Secret Service: “This created, at the highest level, a structural divide in the flow of communications.”
There were other communications problems.
The Secret Service had to switch radio channels because radio traffic of agents protecting first lady Jill Biden at an event in Pittsburgh was popping up on the channels of agents covering the Butler rally.
The panel also noted that all the law enforcement personnel on the ground were using a “chaotic mixture” of radio, cell phone, text, and e-mail throughout the day to communicate.
Also the panel said it was unclear who had ultimate command that day.
Cultural issues within the agency
The report delved into the agency’s culture and painted a picture of an agency struggling to think critically about how it carries out its mission, especially when it comes to protecting Trump.
The panel said agency personnel operated under the assumption that they effectively had to “do more with less.” The report said the additional security measures taken to protect Trump after the Butler shooting should have been taken before.
“To be clear, the Panel did not identify any nefarious or malicious intent behind this phenomenon, but rather an overreliance on assigning personnel based on categories (former, candidate, nominee) instead of an individualized assessment of risk,” the panel wrote.
The panel also noted the “back-and-forth” between the Trump security detail and Secret Service headquarters regarding how many people were needed to protect him.
The panel also faulted some of the senior-level staff who were involved in the rally for what they called a “lack of ownership.” In one example, the panel said a senior agent on site who was tasked with coordinating communications didn’t walk around the rally site ahead of timen and did not brief the state police counterpart before the rally about how communications would be managed.
It cited the relative inexperience of two specific agents who played a role in security for the July 13 rally. One was the site agent from Trump’s detail whose job it was to coordinate with the Pittsburgh field office on security planning for the rally. The panel said the agent graduated from the Secret Service academy in 2020, and had only been on the Trump detail since 2023. Before the Butler rally the agent had only done “minimal previous site advance work or site security planning.”
Another agent assigned to operate a drone detection system had only used the technology at two prior events.
What did the panel recommend?
Having a unified command post at all large events where Secret Service and other law enforcement representatives are all physically in the same place; overhead surveillance for all outdoor events; security plans must include a way to mitigate line of site concerns out to 1,000 yards and who’s in charge at the event; and more training on how to get protectees out of dangerous scenarios.
The panel said the agency also needs new, outside leadership and a renewed focus on its core protective mission while expressing skepticism that the agency should continue with the investigations it currently conducts. While the Secret Service is well known for what it does to protect presidents and other dignitaries, it also investigates financial crimes.
“In the Panel’s opinion, it is simply unacceptable for the Service to have anything less than a paramount focus on its protective mission, particularly while that protective mission function is presently suboptimal,” the report said.
The panel members were Mark Filip, deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush; David Mitchell, who served in numerous state and local law enforcement roles in Maryland and Delaware; Janet Napolitano, homeland security secretary under President Barack Obama; and Frances Fragos Townsend, Bush’s assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism.
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ЗСУ відбили 15 атак на Покровському напрямку, найактивніше російські військові діяли поблизу Селидового, йдеться в зведенні
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Germany plans to introduce measures aimed at boosting its domestic wind industry, the economy ministry said on Thursday, amid concerns from European governments and companies over Chinese firms gaining momentum on the continent.
The measures will focus on improving cybersecurity, reducing dependency for critical components like permanent magnets, and ensuring fair competition in global markets, the ministry said following a meeting with unnamed European wind turbine manufacturers and suppliers in Berlin, without giving further details or a time frame.
China accounts for about 60% of global rare earth mine production, but its share jumps to 90% of processed rare earths and magnet output.
“We must continue improving conditions to keep this industry competitive and ensure future value creation within Germany and Europe. These measures are a crucial step,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.
The plan will also address securing financing for increased production and adjusting public funding mechanisms to prevent market distortion.
The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for further details.
Tensions are high between Beijing and the European Union, the world’s two largest wind markets. The European Commission launched an investigation in April into whether Chinese companies are benefiting from unfair subsidies.
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LOS ANGELES — The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades, in what an attorney said was the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese, it was announced Wednesday.
After the announcement of the agreement in principle, Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement, “I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart.”
“My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered,” the archbishop added. “I believe that we have come to a resolution of these claims that will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses.”
Attorneys for 1,353 people who allege that they suffered horrific abuse at the hands of local Catholic priests reached the settlement after months of negotiations with the archdiocese, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The agreement caps a quarter-century of litigation against the most populous archdiocese in the United States.
Attorneys in the Plaintiffs’ Liaison Committee said in a joint statement, “While there is no amount of money that can replace what was taken from these 1,353 brave individuals who have suffered in silence for decades, there is justice in accountability.”
Under the settlement, the plaintiffs will engage in a process— that will not involve the archdiocese — to allocate the settlement amount among the participants.
The archdiocese has previously paid $740 million to victims in various settlements and had pledged to better protect its church members, so this settlement would put the total payout at more than $1.5 billion, the Times said.
Attorney Morgan Stewart, who led the negotiations, said in a statement that the settlement is the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese.
“These survivors have suffered for decades in the aftermath of the abuse. Dozens of the survivors have died. They are aging, and many of those with knowledge of the abuse within the church are too. It was time to get this resolved,” Stewart told the Times.
The settlement will be funded by archdiocese investments, accumulated reserves, bank financing, and other assets. According to the archdiocese, certain religious orders and others named in the litigation will also cover some of the cost of the settlement, the Times said.
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Ще троє людей поранені на Донеччині, заявив голова області
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На думку аналітиків, наступальна операція РФ у напрямку Покровська, яка посилилася влітку 2024 року, досягне кульмінації в найближчі місяці
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У Середземному морі зараз чотири кораблі РФ, з них три – носії крилатих ракет «Калібр», загальний залп до 16 ракет
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U.S. forces carried out airstrikes Wednesday against Houthi militant weapons storage sites in Yemen, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
The strikes, conducted by B-2 bombers, targeted weapons the Houthis have used in a yearlong campaign of attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that have disrupted major sea shipping routes.
“This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified,” Austin said.
The Iran-backed Houthis have said their campaign of using boats, missiles and drones to target vessels is being done in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war in Gaza.
The United States and Britain have conducted multiple strikes against the Houthis to try to protect the shipping lanes, while commercial companies have rerouted many ships to use the longer and more expensive route of going around the African continent.
“The Houthis’ illegal attacks continue to disrupt the free flow of international commerce, threaten environmental catastrophe, and put innocent civilian lives and U.S. and partner forces’ lives at risk,” Austin said.
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US President Joe Biden heads to Germany on Thursday, a week later than planned and on a compressed timeline after Hurricane Milton grounded him last week. Both he and Germany’s leader have been facing mounting pressure over their support for Ukraine — both having recently announced new security packages. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports.
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washington — U.S. President Joe Biden joined former Democratic presidents and others to honor longtime human rights advocate and storied political family matriarch Ethel Kennedy at a memorial service in Washington on Wednesday after her death last week at age 96.
The widow of Robert F. Kennedy — a former U.S. attorney general and U.S. senator, who was assassinated while seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968 — founded a human rights center to carry on her husband’s work.
She never remarried and went on to raise her 11 children, enduring a host of other family tragedies along the way, including separate plane crashes that killed her parents, brother and nephew, as well as the untimely deaths of several of her children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
She and her husband were devastated by the assassination of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, in Dallas in 1963.
Biden, a fellow Irish Catholic who has leaned on his faith amid his own losses, including the death of his son Beau, said the Democratic family matriarch was there for him at his time of tragedy. He said her husband had been one of his heroes.
“Ethel was a hero in her own right,” Biden said in remarks at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, just blocks from the White House.
Former Democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others, also reflected on her life.
The son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated just two months before Robert Kennedy, noted the two families’ shared journey and understanding of sacrifice amid their work for social justice.
“Faith and history knitted us together. Respect and love has kept us together,” Martin Luther King III told the crowd.
The Kennedys were known for their parties and Wednesday’s service was no different, with scores of relatives filling the pews and high-profile attendees remembering the infectious spirit highlighted by her children and grandchildren.
“She was a spitfire,” Obama said. “As serious as Ethel was about righting wrongs, she never seemed to take herself too seriously.”
Other Democratic attendees included California Governor Gavin Newsom and former top U.S. diplomat and presidential candidate John Kerry. Country star Kenny Chesney sang “You Are My Sunshine” while Sting surprised guests with “Fragile” and Stevie Wonder with “Isn’t She Lovely.”
Over the decades, Kennedy took up many causes championed by her late husband, including fighting poverty, working for social justice and protecting the environment. Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014. She died on October 10 from complications following a stroke, her family said.
Her daughter Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was Maryland’s lieutenant governor, while her son Joseph P. Kennedy II represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her grandson, former U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, serves as special envoy to Northern Ireland.
Her son Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine advocate and former independent presidential candidate, broke from his family’s long Democratic ties to endorse Donald Trump in November’s election.
Many members of the Kennedy clan have denounced his election politics and backed the Democratic ticket, now led by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden stepped aside in July. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended Wednesday’s service alongside his family but made no remarks.
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washington — Recent arrests in the United States and in Europe have law enforcement and intelligence agencies on alert, bolstering concerns about a reinvigorated Islamic State terror group bent on lashing out against the West.
FBI officials Wednesday confirmed the bureau shared information with French authorities following last week’s arrest of 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan national in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on charges connected to a mass shooting plot in the name of the Islamic State group, to coincide with the U.S. election in November.
That information led to the arrest of a 22-year-old Afghan national in the Haute-Garonne region of France, who French officials say is linked to Tawhedi.
That arrest followed the arrests of three other men in the same region, again carried out in coordination with the U.S.
French anti-terrorism prosecutors said Saturday that the suspects, all of whom are said to be followers of the Islamic State, appear to have been involved in a plan to carry out an attack on a football stadium or a shopping center.
“The recent arrests in France and by the FBI’s Oklahoma City field office demonstrate the importance of partnerships to detect and disrupt potential terrorist attacks,” the FBI said in a statement.
“The FBI’s top priority is preventing acts of terrorism, and we are committed to working with our partners both overseas and in the United States to uncover any plots and protect our communities from violence,” it said.
The arrests follow repeated warnings from Western counterterrorism officials that the Islamic State, also known as IS or ISIS, has set its sights on launching attacks against the U.S. and Europe. And many have raised specific concerns about the group’s Afghan affiliate, known as IS-Khorasan or ISIS-K.
IS-Khorasan “does have the intention to carry out external attacks, including external attacks inside the United States,” said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, speaking during a Washington Post webcast last month.
“We are very concerned about the capacity of ISIS-K to potentially move operatives into the United States,” he added.
Others have warned that IS, and IS-Khorasan, have each sought to expand recruiting efforts around the globe.
Some Western officials and regional observers have told VOA that as far back as 2021, the IS Afghan affiliate was seeking to seed Central Asian states such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with small but highly capable cells and networks that could serve as the basis for future attacks.
Some also have warned that IS-Khorasan has since built on those efforts, increasingly trying to target Afghans and Central Asians living in the West.
“We’ve seen ISIS-K make a concerted effort to recruit from diaspora communities,” said Austin Doctor, the director of counterterrorism research initiatives at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center, or NCITE, speaking with VOA last week following the Oklahoma City arrest.
“It will be another important factor to watch as more information becomes available.”
Information from Agence France-Presse was used in this article.
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Днями радник керівника Офісу президента Сергій Лещенко заявив, що США тиснуть на українського президента щодо мобілізації чоловіків віком 18-25 років
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With the U.S. presidential election just weeks away, border security remains a central issue. Reporting from Arizona, VOA immigration correspondent Aline Barros spoke with the U.S. Border Patrol and a migration expert for two views on what border security means. Video editor: Henry Hernandez
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washington — Fifteen days after turning 100, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter cast his ballot in the U.S. election on Wednesday, fulfilling an earlier declared wish to live long enough to vote for Kamala Harris.
The former Democratic leader “voted by mail,” according to the Carter Center, the nonprofit he founded after he left the White House in 1981 to pursue his vision of world diplomacy.
The centenarian — who left office under a cloud of unpopularity, but has seen his star rise ever since — took advantage of early voting in his home state of Georgia, where he is receiving hospice care.
Carter had told his family earlier this year that living long enough to vote for Harris and help defeat her Republican rival, Donald Trump, was more important to him than his centennial, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.
He reached both milestones.
More than 420,000 people have cast their ballot since early voting began Tuesday in Georgia, according to Gabriel Sterling, a state election official who posted the figures at midday.
Election Day is November 5.
Carter, a one-term president, has been receiving end-of-life care in his hometown of Plains in Georgia since February last year.
He is the first former U.S. president to reach the century mark, another extraordinary milestone for the one-time peanut farmer who worked his way to the White House.
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«Російська Федерація продовжує провадити в окупованому 2014 року Криму щодо кримських татар політику геноциду»
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