SAN DIEGO: President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday aiming to increase the number of background checks to buy guns, promote better and more secure firearms storage and ensure US law enforcement agencies are getting the most out of a bipartisan gun control law enacted last summer.
The Democratic president plans to unveil his latest efforts at curbing gun violence in a speech from Monterey Park, California, said a senior White House official, who discussed the order ahead of its signing on the condition of anonymity. In January, a gunman stormed a dance hall in the community near Los Angeles and shot 20 people, killing 11, following a Lunar New Year celebration.
Biden’s rhetoric has only grown stronger around guns — he routinely calls for banning so-called assault weapons in his speeches — and Democrats didn’t push such a vocal anti-gun platform even during the Obama administration, when Biden was vice president. But Biden has been emboldened by the midterms after his regular talk of gun control didn’t result in massive losses, and he’s expected to continue to push for strong changes as he inches toward a 2024 run, his aides say.
Biden invited Brandon Tsay, the 26-year-old who wrestled the semi-automatic pistol away from the gunman in Monterey Park, to his State of the Union address and praised the young man’s heroism.
“He saved lives. It’s time we do the same as well,” Biden said in his speech to Congress. “Ban assault weapons once and for all.”
But his power is limited to go beyond bipartisan legislation passed by Congress last summer, the most sweeping gun violence bill in decades. It followed the killings last year of 10 shoppers at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store and 19 students and two teachers at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school.
“Too many lives have been taken by gun violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “But he believes we need to do more. You’ll hear him call on Congress to take action and not to stop ... that we need to continue.”
Biden will mandate that his Cabinet work on a plan to better structure the government to support communities suffering from gun violence, said the senior White House official who previewed the order. The plan will call on Attorney General Merrick Garland to shore up the rules for federally licensed gun dealers so they know they are required to do background checks as part of the license.
Biden is also mandating better reporting of ballistics data from federal law enforcement for a clearinghouse that allows federal, state and local law enforcement to match shell casings to guns. But local and state law enforcement agencies are not required to report ballistics data, and many do not, making the clearinghouse less effective.
And the president is going to ask the Federal Trade Commission to issue a public report analyzing how gun manufacturers market to minors and use military images to market to the general public.
The bill passed last year, known as the Safer Communities Act, is viewed by gun control advocates as a good start but one that doesn’t go far enough. After the law was signed, there were 11 other mass shootings, according to a database of mass killings since 2006 maintained by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. Those killings don’t include shootings in which fewer than four people were killed — and gun violence is also rising nationwide.
“President Biden’s executive order today is a home run for public safety,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “This is the latest example of President Biden’s leadership on gun safety, and we’re proud to stand with him as he takes robust action to help close the gun-seller loophole — which will significantly expand background checks on gun sales, keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous people and save lives.”
Biden will also direct his Cabinet to make sure law enforcement agencies understand the benefits of the new law, particularly around red-flag laws, also known as extreme risk protection orders, which are intended to temporarily remove guns from people with potentially violent behavior and prevent them from hurting themselves or others.
Last month, the Justice Department sent out more than $200 million to help states and the District of Columbia administer red-flag laws and other crisis-intervention programs.
Joe Biden expected to sign new executive order on US gun control
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Joe Biden expected to sign new executive order on US gun control
- Aims to increase the number of background checks to buy guns, promote better and more secure firearms storage
Taiwan must invest in building its own ‘strengths,’ vice president-elect says
- The United States is Chinese-claimed Taiwan’s most important supporter and arms supplier, despite the lack of diplomatic ties
TAIPEI: Taiwan is grateful for continued US security assistance but must invest in building its own “strengths” first and show the world its support for the island is worth it, Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim said on Monday.
Hsiao, who takes office with President-elect Lai Ching-te on May 20, is Taiwan’s former de facto ambassador to Washington, and is expected to play a key role in further strengthening ties with the United States given her fluent English and deep ties in the US capital.
The United States is Chinese-claimed Taiwan’s most important supporter and arms supplier, despite the lack of diplomatic ties.
Speaking to a think-tank forum, Hsiao expressed appreciation for US President Joe Biden last month signing into law legislation to boost Taiwan’s defenses, part of a broader package of assistance for Ukraine and Israel.
“This bill demonstrates the US’ continuing commitment to supporting allies and partners in the face of geopolitical challenges,” she said.
“But beyond thanking our international friends for their support, it is important that as Taiwanese we invest in building our own strengths first,” she said.
“Through our own efforts in building a resilient Taiwan, we must have the confidence that Taiwan is worthy of galvanizing international support.”
China has ramped up its military pressure against Taiwan over the past four years. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
Hsiao and Lai — who have pledged to continue President Tsai Ing-wen’s defense self-sufficiency and modernization program — take power just months before the US presidential election in November.
Former President Donald Trump, whose administration strongly supported Taiwan and is the presumptive Republican candidate this time round, has said US allies like European members of NATO have to spend more on defense and not just rely on the United States shouldering the burden.
Trump has also been critical of US support for Ukraine following its invasion by Russia.
Rafah invasion ‘must not go ahead’: UK Labour leader
- Keir Starmer calls for ‘immediate ceasefire, release of hostages, unimpeded aid into Gaza’
- Israeli defense minister warns of ‘powerful operation in very near future’
LONDON: An Israeli offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah “must not go ahead,” the leader of the UK’s main opposition Labour Party said on Monday.
Keir Starmer’s comments came after the Israeli military told Palestinian civilians in the area to leave ahead of a planned offensive.
“With more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering in Rafah, an Israeli offensive must not go ahead,” Starmer wrote on X.
“There must be an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, and unimpeded aid into Gaza that can be delivered regularly, quickly and safely.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Sunday of “a powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah.”
Starmer was echoed by his Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who posted on X that an invasion of Rafah “would be catastrophic.”
Shadow International Development Secretary Lisa Nandy warned that people trapped in Rafah “have nowhere else to go.”
So far, at least 34,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war last October.
India BJP’s election videos targeting Muslims and opposition spark outrage
- Videos shared by BJP depict Congress giving disproportionate benefits to Muslims over tribal and Hindu groups
- Manipulated videos have become contentious issue in polls, such as fake videos of top Bollywood stars criticizing Modi
NEW DELHI, May 6 : Animated videos shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party targeting opposition Congress and the Muslim community have evoked complaints and outrage, as the political climate in India heats up midway through its six-week long election.
The videos, shared by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on social media platforms Instagram and X over the last ten days, depict the Congress giving disproportionate benefits to India’s minority Muslim community, at the cost of certain disadvantaged tribal and Hindu caste groups.
The Congress, in a complaint to the poll watchdog Election Commission, said on Sunday that the video has been shared “clearly with an intention to wantonly provocate rioting and promote enmity between different religions.”
A set of guidelines mutually adopted by political parties for how they should conduct themselves during the election period prohibit them from creating “mutual hatred” between caste, religious or linguistic groups.
Manipulated videos on social media have also become a contentious issue in this election, such as fake videos showing top Bollywood stars criticizing the prime minister.
On Monday, the commission warned parties against the misuse of AI tools to create deep fakes and told them not to publish and circulate such videos. It also said parties had been directed to remove such content within three hours of it being brought to their notice.
Modi, the face of the Hindu-nationalist BJP, seeking a rare third consecutive term, had focused his campaign largely on his government’s performance on economic growth and welfare benefits.
But he changed tack after the first phase of voting on April 19 and his campaign speeches have since become more polarizing on religious lines, accusing Congress of planning to redistribute the wealth of the majority Hindus among minority Muslims, who he called “infiltrators” who have “more children.”
The videos shared by the BJP over the last ten days, one of which has since been taken down, illustrated the same message.
A 17-second video shared by a state unit of BJP on May 4, with over 8.5 million views, shows a character resembling Congress leader Rahul Gandhi feeding “funds” to a bird in a skullcap, which eventually pushes out from their common nest three other birds representing other disadvantaged groups.
The Congress has filed a police complaint against BJP leaders for the video, BJP’s head of information and technology Amit Malviya said on X.
“The Congress should in fact thank the BJP for taking their manifesto to the people in a manner that even they couldn’t,” he wrote.
The video has elicited outrage. Nitasha Kaul, a politics professor at London’s Westminster University said on X that the video was a “straightforward 1930s Germany style cartoon.”
In its manifesto for the elections, the Congress has promised to tackle India’s economic inequality by conducting a socio-economic caste census and extending affirmative action. It said it will ensure that minorities receive “their fair share” of education, economic and health care opportunities.
An Election Commission spokesperson, the BJP’s Malviya and Congress spokespersons did not respond to requests seeking comment.
Bangladeshi students rally in solidarity with global student movement against Israel
- US student protests have sparked more around the world, including in India, France, Australia
- Dhaka’s thousands-strong rally took place at Bangladesh’s largest, oldest tertiary institution
DHAKA: Thousands of people protesting Israel’s war on Gaza rallied at one of Bangladesh’s top universities on Monday in solidarity with the student-led protests and occupations sweeping the globe.
Pro-Palestinian student leaders and activists from different universities marched and carried flags of Bangladesh and Palestine, chanting slogans in solidarity with Gaza as they made their way to Dhaka University, Bangladesh’s largest and oldest tertiary institution.
Their protest culminated at the symbolic Aparajeyo Bangla sculpture, one of the most well-known landmarks dedicated to the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
“Our stance is very clear: We express solidarity in support of a free Palestine state, in favor of a world free from war. And we support the demands made by US students, like divestment from Israel and other organizations that support the Israeli aggression,” Saddam Hussain, president of the organizing student group Bangladesh Students’ League, told Arab News.
They are also rallying in solidarity with the global student movement, he added.
“We believe all protests hold the same spirit of the youth, be it on the banks of the Atlantic or here on the bank of River Padma,” he said.
“The youths around the world have a common dream, and I urge all of them to move forward to make this dream come true. I hope all the youths of the world will join in this protest to build a world free from war, free and guided with humanitarian spirit.”
The Israeli strikes on Gaza that began in October have killed nearly 35,000 people in the Palestinian territory, mostly women and children. The leader of the World Food Program said over the weekend that parts of the Gaza strip were experiencing a “full-blown famine” that was spreading across the besieged enclave.
Students started to rally or set up tents at various universities around the US last month to protest Israel’s war on Gaza, sparking a global solidarity movement among the youth in India, Australia, France and elsewhere, with many putting pressure on their administrators and governments to cut ties with Tel Aviv.
While US colleges have seen protests since October, the unrest has escalated in recent weeks after police arrested pro-Palestine demonstrators at an encampment in Columbia University, sparking even more campsites at other campuses, as well as more crackdowns and arrests.
Unlike in the US, students in Dhaka were able to protest peacefully with scant police presence.
“The US and some other big players always speak in favor of freedom of speech. But what we have seen in the university campuses in the US is a shame for world leaders,” Solaiman Khan, a 23-year-old Dhaka University student, told Arab News.
“It’s a double standard. We, the youth (of Bangladesh), came out to the streets against this sort of hypocrisy from the superpowers of the world.”
Khan said the violence against Palestinians must be “stopped now and forever.”
“We have seen enough atrocities done by the Israeli forces. How many more lives must the world lose? Is it not enough?” he said.
“I think world leaders should come to their senses and act more rationally in stopping the atrocities in Gaza orchestrated by the occupying Israeli forces. Now is the time to play a decisive role. Otherwise, the next generation will not forgive us.”
Pro-Palestine Oxbridge students set up encampments
- They are demanding transparency about the universities’ financial links to Israel
- ‘We will not move until our demands are met’
LONDON: Students at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge have set up encampments in support of Palestine, The Times reported on Monday.
Around 50 have refused to leave the lawn of King’s College, Cambridge, while students have also declared a “liberated zone” outside Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum.
A banner hung outside King’s College read: “Welcome to the people’s university for Palestine.” Chants of “stop the bombing now” have also been heard on the campus.
The protests have been organized by Oxford Action for Palestine and Cambridge for Palestine.
They are demanding transparency about the universities’ financial links to Israel, which they have described as a “settler colonial state,” and are calling for the end of all investments and endowments from Israeli and Israel-linked companies.
“We have set up camp in university grounds, and we will not move until our demands are met,” the groups said in a statement, adding that the universities are legitimate targets for protests because of their “role in the British empire and its disastrous colonial legacies.”
The Times reported that protesters had been given an itinerary for their involvement including “de-escalation training” and “banner-making.”
A spokesperson for Cambridge University said it is for the college to decide whether to call the police, adding: “The university is fully committed to academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law and we acknowledge the right to protest.
“We ask everyone in our community to treat each other with understanding and empathy. Our priority is the safety of all staff and students.
“We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia and any other form of racial or religious hatred, or other unlawful activity.”
The relatively small UK protests come after nearly 2,000 people were arrested across the US after widespread demonstrations on over 130 American university campuses about Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
