Weeks-long Standoffs in Mediterranean Becoming 'New Normal'

Migrants are seen aboard the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms, close to the Italian shore at Lampedusa. (Reuters)
Migrants are seen aboard the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms, close to the Italian shore at Lampedusa. (Reuters)
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Weeks-long Standoffs in Mediterranean Becoming 'New Normal'

Migrants are seen aboard the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms, close to the Italian shore at Lampedusa. (Reuters)
Migrants are seen aboard the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms, close to the Italian shore at Lampedusa. (Reuters)

The Ocean Viking carrying 356 people, mostly Africans, rescued in the Mediterranean off Libya is closing in on two weeks at sea without being assigned a safe port to offload the traumatized passengers — a situation that charity workers decry as "the new normal" as Europe fails to devise a systematic response.

It "is a complete shame. It is inhumane," Jay Berger, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders on the Ocean Viking, said by satellite phone to The Associated Press Thursday. "There needs to be concrete action. This is not how people should be treated."

The Ocean Viking conducted four rescues off Libya from August 9-12, and is in its 13th day without being permitted to disembark the rescued people, as dictated by maritime law. The ship, with a stated capacity of 200 passengers, has been sailing between the Italian island of Linosa and Malta, staying out of sight of land as that would only excite the rescued people.

Berger said that the situation on board remains "manageable," but anxiety is growing about what is going to happen. The passengers are becoming increasingly concerned that they will be taken back to Libya, where many suffered torture and detention, he said.

"The longer we are at sea, the harder it is for them to trust us," he said. "Already two weeks is way too long."

So far, there have been no medical emergencies or outbreaks of tension, as was the case on the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms, which disembarked Tuesday night on the Italian island of Lampedusa after a prosecutor ordered the vessel seized as part of investigations into possible charges of kidnapping, failure to provide aid and a safe port.

Unlike the Ocean Viking, the Open Arms had been permitted to enter Italian waters after an administrative court ruled that it could access port. An appeal to that ruling filed by Italy's hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, is still pending.

During the 20-day-long Open Arms standoff, dozens were evacuated for medical emergencies or because they were minors. The situation spiraled out of control after the vessels anchored within sight of Lampedusa, and 15 migrants jumped in the sea on Tuesday seeking to reach land on their own out of frustration. That triggered a resolution as a prosecutor visited the ship and Spain dispatched a Navy ship to escort the Open Arms back Spain.

The 83 migrants that remained on board until the end will be transferred to five EU countries, but the timing remains unclear.

Berger said the Ocean Viking, operated in coordination with SOS Mediterranee, is determined to abide by all laws, and does not intend to force its way "into any territorial waters in any state." That was the case with a German ship operated by Sea-Watch, which forced its way into Lampedusa after 17 days at sea with 40 migrants after declaring a state of emergency on board.

"We are trying our best to abide by the law and proper authorities, that is why we are not forcing our way in," Berger said. But he added that if conditions deteriorate to an emergency, it would be the captain's call to enter the nearest port.

While Malta has refused the Ocean Viking port, Italy has not responded to its requests. But Salvini has made his position clear that no humanitarian rescue ship will be allowed in an Italian port, winning parliamentary backing for tighter restrictions that include fines of up to 1 million euros for any ship that defies him. That move came just days before Salvini triggered a crisis that led to the collapse of Italy's populist government.

On board the Ocean Viking, Berger emphasized that while the ship awaits port, there are no humanitarian rescue ships operating in the central Mediterranean Sea, where some 580 people are believed to have died this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

While that number is lower than last year's death toll of 1,130 from January through August, the rate of deaths per estimated crossing is higher, according to the IOM.

"If we are not out there saving lives, people will die at sea. This is turning the Mediterranean into a graveyard," he said. "It shows a lack of care, a lack of decency and a level of apathy projected from the EU member states."



Fire Breaks Out for Second Time at Car Battery Factory Run by Iran’s Defense Ministry

The Iranian flag is seen flying over Evin prison in Tehran, Iran October 17, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
The Iranian flag is seen flying over Evin prison in Tehran, Iran October 17, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Fire Breaks Out for Second Time at Car Battery Factory Run by Iran’s Defense Ministry

The Iranian flag is seen flying over Evin prison in Tehran, Iran October 17, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
The Iranian flag is seen flying over Evin prison in Tehran, Iran October 17, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

A fire broke out Thursday at a car battery factory owned by Iran's Defense Ministry for the second time in less than a week, state media reported.

No one was injured in the blaze, which erupted in an area where plastic waste is stored, state TV said. Iranian news outlets circulated photos and video footage of a column of black smoke rising into the sky north of the capital, Tehran.

Iran's regular military and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard operate several factories across the country, many of which produce civilian goods.

Iran has seen a series of fires and other mishaps in its military facilities over the years, and often accuses its archenemy Israel of sabotage. Last month, Iran said Israel tried to sabotage its ballistic missile program through faulty foreign parts that could explode.

Iran has been under heavy Western sanctions for several years that prevent it from importing a range of machinery and replacement parts, forcing it to build its own or source them on the black market. That has likely made industrial mishaps more common.


Ukrainian Forces Are ‘Gradually Gaining Ground’, NATO Chief Says 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 28, 2023. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 28, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukrainian Forces Are ‘Gradually Gaining Ground’, NATO Chief Says 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 28, 2023. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 28, 2023. (Reuters)

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, on an unannounced visit to Kyiv, said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces were "gradually gaining ground" in their counteroffensive against Russian forces.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Stoltenberg also said Russian troops were fighting for Moscow's "imperial delusions".

Stoltenberg announced that NATO now had over-arching framework contracts in place with arms companies worth 2.4 billion euros ($2.53 billion) for key ammunition, including 1 billion euros in firm orders.

He said such contracts would allow NATO members to replenish their depleted stockpiles while also continuing to provide Ukraine with ammunition, a key factor in the war.

Stoltenberg also condemned Russian strikes near Ukraine's border with NATO member Romania. He said there was no evidence such strikes were a deliberate attack on Romania but branded them "reckless" and "destabilizing".


Israel’s High Court Hears Challenge to Law That Makes it Harder to Remove Netanyahu from Office 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the Israeli government's weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the Israeli government's weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
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Israel’s High Court Hears Challenge to Law That Makes it Harder to Remove Netanyahu from Office 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the Israeli government's weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the Israeli government's weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, 27 September 2023. (EPA)

Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday was hearing a challenge to a law that makes it harder to remove a sitting prime minister, which critics say is designed to protect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been working to reshape the justice system while he is on trial for alleged corruption.

The hearing is part of several pivotal court challenges against a proposed package of legislation and government steps meant to alter the country's justice system. It comes as Israel has been plunged into months of turmoil over the plan and deepens a rift between Netanyahu's government and the judiciary, which it wants to weaken despite unprecedented opposition.

The hearing is the second by the High Court on the law but was being heard Thursday by an expanded 11-judge panel, underscoring the importance of the deliberations.

Netanyahu’s governing coalition — Israel’s most religious and nationalist ever — passed an amendment known as the “incapacitation law” in March which allows a prime minister to be deemed unfit to rule only for medical or mental reasons. It also gives only the prime minister or his government the power to determine a leader's unfitness.

The previous version of the law was vague about both the circumstances surrounding a prime minister being deemed unfit as well as who had the authority to declare it, leaving open the possibility that the attorney general could take the step against Netanyahu over claims that he violated a conflict of interest agreement.

Critics say the law protects Netanyahu from being deemed unfit for office because of his ongoing corruption trial and claims of a conflict of interest over his involvement in the legal overhaul. They also say the law is tailor-made for Netanyahu and encourages corruption.

Based on those criticisms, Thursday’s hearing is focusing on whether the law should come into effect after the next national elections and not immediately so that it isn't interpreted as a personalized law. A ruling is expected by January.

Dozens of protesters opposed to the overhaul gathered outside Netanyahu's private residence in Jerusalem ahead of the hearing, chanting “democracy," while Netanyahu's allies defended the law. Simcha Rothman, a main driver of the overhaul, told Israeli Army Radio that the court's decision to hear the case over the fate of a sitting prime minister was harmful to Israeli democracy and challenging the law was akin to throwing out the results of a legitimate election.

“The moment the court determines the laws then it is also the legislative branch, the judiciary and the executive branch,” he said. “This is an undemocratic reality.”

The government wants to weaken the Supreme Court and limit judicial oversight on its decisions, saying it wants to return power to elected lawmakers and away from what it sees as a liberal-leaning, interventionist justice system. The first major piece of the overhaul was passed in July and an unprecedented 15-judge panel began hearing arguments against it earlier this month.

The drive to reshape Israel’s justice system comes as Netanyahu’s trial for alleged corruption is ongoing. Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases involving influential media moguls and wealthy associates. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, seeing the charges as part of a “witch-hunt” against him orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased justice system.

Experts and legal officials say a conflict of interest arrangement struck after Netanyahu was indicted is meant to limit his involvement in judicial changes. After the incapacitation law was passed, Netanyahu said his hands were no longer tied and that he was taking a more active role in the legal changes underway. That sparked a rebuke from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who said Netanyahu's remarks and any further actions were “completely illegal and in conflict of interest.”

Critics say Netanyahu and his government are working to upend the country’s delicate system of checks and balances and setting Israel on a path toward autocracy. The overhaul has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises, deepening longstanding societal divisions between those who want Israel to be a Western-facing liberal democracy and those who want to emphasize the country’s more conservative Jewish character.

Netanyahu has moved forward with the overhaul despite a wave of opposition from a broad swath of Israeli society. Top legal officials, leading economists and the country’s booming tech sector have all spoken out against the judicial changes, which have sparked opposition from hundreds of military reservists, who have said they will not serve so long as the overhaul remains on the table. Tens of thousands of people have protested every Saturday for the last nine months.


Separatist Govt of Nagorno-Karabakh Says it Will Dismantle Itself by January 2024 

Refugees stand near the road with the Karabakh mountains in the background after crossing the border near Kornidzor on September 28, 2023. (AFP)
Refugees stand near the road with the Karabakh mountains in the background after crossing the border near Kornidzor on September 28, 2023. (AFP)
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Separatist Govt of Nagorno-Karabakh Says it Will Dismantle Itself by January 2024 

Refugees stand near the road with the Karabakh mountains in the background after crossing the border near Kornidzor on September 28, 2023. (AFP)
Refugees stand near the road with the Karabakh mountains in the background after crossing the border near Kornidzor on September 28, 2023. (AFP)

The separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh announced Thursday that it will dissolve itself and the unrecognized republic will cease to exist by Jan. 1, 2024. 

The move comes after Azerbaijan carried out a lightning offensive to reclaim full control over its breakaway region and demanded that Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh lay down their weapons and the separatist government dissolve itself. 

A decree to that effect was signed by the region’s separatist President Samvel Shakhramanyan. The document cited an agreement reached last week to end the fighting under which Azerbaijan will allow the “free, voluntary and unhindered movement” of Nagorno-Karbakh residents and disarm troops in Armenia in exchange. 

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan that came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict. 

In December, Azerbaijan imposed a blockade of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, alleging that the Armenian government was using the road for mineral extraction and illicit weapons shipments to the region’s separatist forces. 

Armenia charged that the closure denied basic food and fuel supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh’s approximately 120,000 people. Azerbaijan rejected the accusation, arguing the region could receive supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam — a solution long resisted by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, who called it a strategy for Azerbaijan to gain control of the region. 

After the blockade was lifted following the offensive and a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russian peacekeepers, more than half of Nagorno-Karabakh's population — 65,000 — have fled to Armenia. 


Ukraine Says it Destroyed 34 of 44 Drones Launched by Russia 

A view of a damaged private factory after overnight shelling in Odesa, southern Ukraine, 25 September 2023, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
A view of a damaged private factory after overnight shelling in Odesa, southern Ukraine, 25 September 2023, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
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Ukraine Says it Destroyed 34 of 44 Drones Launched by Russia 

A view of a damaged private factory after overnight shelling in Odesa, southern Ukraine, 25 September 2023, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
A view of a damaged private factory after overnight shelling in Odesa, southern Ukraine, 25 September 2023, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)

Ukraine's Air Force said on Thursday its air defense systems shot down 34 of 44 Shahed drones that Russia launched overnight, military and regional officials said the attack caused no casualties.

"Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units and mobile fire groups were engaged to repel the attack," the military said on the Telegram messaging app.

The military said Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv, Odesa and central Kirovohrad regions had been targeted. It said Russian also launched missiles at Mykolaiv.

"Our air defense forces did an excellent job," Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.

"No hits or destruction. There were no casualties. There were only a few small fires on dry grass as a result of the falling wreckage of the downed Shahed."

Ukraine's southern seaport region of Odesa has been hit by Russian drone and missile attacks since July, when Russia left a UN-brokered grain export deal that allowed Kyiv to ship its grain abroad.


North Korean Leader Urges Greater Nuclear Weapons Production in Response to ‘New Cold War’ 

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends a Politburo meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends a Politburo meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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North Korean Leader Urges Greater Nuclear Weapons Production in Response to ‘New Cold War’ 

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends a Politburo meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends a Politburo meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an exponential increase in production of nuclear weapons and for his country to play a larger role in a coalition of nations confronting the United States in a "new Cold War," state media said Thursday.

The Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the comments during a two-day session of the country's rubber-stamp parliament which amended the constitution to include his policy of expanding the country's nuclear weapons program.

The Supreme People’s Assembly's session on Tuesday and Wednesday came after Kim traveled to Russia's Far East this month to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and visit military and technology sites.

The trip sparked Western concerns about a possible arms alliance in which North Korea would supply Putin with badly needed munitions to fuel his war on Ukraine in exchange for economic aid and advanced Russian technologies to enhance North Korea's nuclear and missile systems.

As North Korea slowly ends its pandemic lockdown, Kim has been actively boosting his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing as he attempts to break out of diplomatic isolation and join a united front against Washington. He has described the world as entering a "new Cold War" and that North Korea should advance its nuclear capabilities in response.

KCNA’s reports on Kim’s comments came a day after North Korea confirmed the release of US Army Pvt. Travis King, who is now being flown back to America, two months after he sprinted across the heavily fortified border into the North.

King’s relatively swift expulsion defied speculation that North Korea might drag out his detention to squeeze concessions from the United States, and possibly reflected the North's disinterest in diplomacy with Washington.

KCNA said members of the assembly gave unanimous approval to a new clause in the constitution to "ensure the country’s right to existence and development, deter war and protect regional and global peace by rapidly developing nuclear weapons to a higher level."

North Korea's "nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout with anything," Kim said in a speech at the assembly. He stressed the need to "push ahead with the work for exponentially boosting the production of nuclear weapons and diversifying the nuclear strike means," KCNA said.

Kim pointed to what he described as a growing threat posed by a hostile United States and its expanding military cooperation with South Korea and Japan, accusing them of creating the "Asian version of NATO, the root cause of war and aggression."

"This is just the worst actual threat, not threatening rhetoric or an imaginary entity," he said.

Kim urged his diplomats to "further promote solidarity with the nations standing against the US and the West’s strategy for hegemony."

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest level in years as North Korea has test-fired more than 100 missiles since the start of 2022 and the US has expanded its military exercises with its Asian allies, in tit-for-tat responses.

Last year, the assembly passed a new nuclear doctrine into law which authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes if North Korea's leadership is perceived as under threat.


Trump Goes to Michigan to Rail Against Biden’s Electric Vehicle Push While GOP Rivals Debate 

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on while his supporters cheer on the day he addresses auto workers as he skips the second GOP debate, in Clinton Township, Michigan, US, September 27, 2023. (Reuters)
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on while his supporters cheer on the day he addresses auto workers as he skips the second GOP debate, in Clinton Township, Michigan, US, September 27, 2023. (Reuters)
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Trump Goes to Michigan to Rail Against Biden’s Electric Vehicle Push While GOP Rivals Debate 

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on while his supporters cheer on the day he addresses auto workers as he skips the second GOP debate, in Clinton Township, Michigan, US, September 27, 2023. (Reuters)
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on while his supporters cheer on the day he addresses auto workers as he skips the second GOP debate, in Clinton Township, Michigan, US, September 27, 2023. (Reuters)

As his Republican rivals sparred onstage in California at their second primary debate, Donald Trump was in battleground Michigan Wednesday night working to win over blue-collar voters by lambasting President Joe Biden and his push for electric cars in the midst of an autoworkers’ strike.

“I will not allow under any circumstances the American automobile industry to die,” Trump said at Drake Enterprises, a non-unionized auto parts supplier in Clinton Township, about a half-hour outside Detroit.

The Republican front-runner's trip came a day after Biden became the first sitting president in US history to walk a picket line as he joined United Auto Workers in Detroit. The dueling appearances had the feel of the opening salvo of the 2024 general election, which increasingly looks like a rematch between Trump and Biden, even though primary voting won’t begin until next year.

Trump’s decision to skip another debate comes as he maintains a commanding lead in the GOP primary, even as he faces four separate criminal indictments in four different states.

Trump, in his speech, tried to cast Biden as hostile to the auto industry and workers, using extreme rhetoric to claim the industry was “being assassinated.” He insisted Biden’s embrace of electric vehicles — a key component of his clean-energy agenda — would ultimately lead to lost jobs, amplifying the concerns of some autoworkers who worry that electric cars require fewer people to manufacture and that there is no guarantee factories that produce them will be unionized.

“He’s selling you out to China, he’s selling you out to the environmental extremists and the radical left,” Trump told his crowd, flanked by American flags and pallets of auto parts.

He also downplayed the strike as the UAW pushes for higher wages, shorter work weeks and assurances from the country’s top automakers that new electric vehicle jobs will be unionized. While Trump said he supported the workers and hoped they would get a good deal, he also said no deal would matter if proposed pollution limits take effect.

“You’re all on the picket lines and everything, but it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference what you get, because in two years you’re all going to be out of business,” he said.

While Trump has cast himself as pro-worker, he has clashed repeatedly with union leadership and tried to turn union members against their leaders. In a recent campaign video, Trump urged autoworkers not to pay union dues and claimed their leaders have “got some deals going for themselves.”

Just hours before Trump’s visit, the UAW posted a video on its Facebook page protesting factory closures by Detroit’s automakers that included 2017 footage of Trump telling a northern Ohio crowd that auto jobs would be coming back. Two years later, General Motors closed a huge assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, costing thousands of jobs.

Still, Trump repeatedly urged the union to endorse him, at one point directly appealing to UAW President Shawn Fain.

While the union has withheld its support for Biden after endorsing him in 2020, Fain appeared at Biden’s side during his visit Tuesday and has repeatedly criticized Trump.

“I don’t think he cares about working-class people. I think he cares about the billionaire class, he cares about the corporate interests. I think he’s just trying to pander to people and say what they want to hear, and it’s a shame,” Fain said this week.

Biden's re-election campaign, in a statement, called Trump's speech “a pathetic, recycled attempt to feign support for working Americans.”

Drake Enterprises, where Trump spoke, makes automotive and heavy-duty truck components, including gear shift levers for semi-trucks, said its president Nathan Stemple. He said a shift to electric cars would cripple his business.

While Trump aides had said the audience would include several hundred current and former UAW members, as well as members of plumbers and pipefitters unions, it also included many non-union workers who support the former president. Some said they had been invited by people who did business with Drake; others said they had simply arrived at the factory Wednesday afternoon and been allowed to attend.

Tony Duronio, 64, a longtime Trump supporter and real estate broker who lives in Clinton Township, said he received an invitation from a group called Autoworkers for Trump. Duronio praised the economy during Trump's time in office and echoed the former president's criticism of electric vehicles: “Nobody wants ‘em,” he said — and applauded Trump’s decision to skip the debate.

“He’s the frontrunner. He doesn’t have any competition," he said. “Look, if it ain’t him, I may stay home ’cause the rest are no different than Biden.”

Trump briefly mentioned the debate happening 2,000 miles away at the Ronald Reagan presidential library, calling his GOP rivals “job candidates.”

“They’ll do anything,” he said. “Secretary of something. They even say VP, does anybody see any VP in the group? I don’t think so.”

The former president has tried to use the strike to drive a wedge between Biden and union workers, a constituency that helped pave the way for his surprise 2016 victory. Trump in that election won over voters in Democratic strongholds like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, fundamentally reshaping voting alliances as he railed against global trade deals and vowed to resurrect dying manufacturing towns.

But Biden won those states back in 2020 as he emphasized his working-class roots and commitment to organized labor. He often calls himself the “ most pro-union president” in US history and argues the investments his administration is making in green energy and electric vehicle manufacturing will ensure the future of the industry unfolds in the US.

There’s disagreement in the auto industry over whether the shift to EVs will cost union jobs. Some executives say that because electric vehicles require fewer moving parts, companies will need 30% to 40% fewer workers to assemble them. But others say EVs will require comparable labor.

The Trump campaign has vigorously defended his record as pro-worker, but union leaders say his first term was far from worker-friendly — citing unfavorable rulings from the nation’s top labor board and the US Supreme Court, as well as unfulfilled promises of automotive jobs and the closure of the Ohio GM plant.

Along the picket line, workers have been split. Adrian Mitchell, who works at the GM parts warehouse that Biden visited, said he believes Biden would be better for the middle class than a second Trump term. Still, Mitchell said workers are worried the transition to electric cars may cost them jobs.

It was a different scene at Trump's event, filled with MAGA hats and pro-Trump signs.

“Let’s put it this way: There’s nothing I don’t like about Trump,” said Johnny Pentowski, who was a member of the Teamsters Union before he retired as a truck driver earlier this year.

Pentowski, 72, who lives in Eastpointe Michigan, accused union leaders of failing to listen to their members and shared Trump’s skepticism of EVs.

“You take away fossil fuels from a country, you’re taking away its lifeblood,” he said. “Windmills and solars don’t do it.”

The UAW’s targeted strikes against the Big Three automakers — General Motors, Stellantis and Ford — began at midnight Sept. 14 and have since expanded to 38 parts distribution centers in 20 states.

The union is asking for 36% raises in general pay over four years and has also demanded a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay and a return of cost-of-living pay raises, among other benefits. It also wants to be allowed to represent workers at 10 electric vehicle battery factories, most of which are being built by joint ventures between automakers and South Korean battery makers.

While Biden has not implemented an electric vehicle mandate, he has set a goal that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. His administration has also proposed stiff new automobile pollution limits that would require up to two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the US to be electric by 2032, a nearly tenfold increase over current electric vehicle sales. That proposal is not final.


Chinese Hackers Stole Emails from US State Dept in Microsoft Breach

 60,000 emails were stolen from 10 State Department accounts/File photo
60,000 emails were stolen from 10 State Department accounts/File photo
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Chinese Hackers Stole Emails from US State Dept in Microsoft Breach

 60,000 emails were stolen from 10 State Department accounts/File photo
60,000 emails were stolen from 10 State Department accounts/File photo

Chinese hackers who breached Microsoft's email platform this year managed to steal tens of thousands of emails from US State Department accounts, a Senate staffer told Reuters on Wednesday.

The staffer, who attended a briefing by State Department IT officials, said the officials told lawmakers that 60,000 emails were stolen from 10 State Department accounts. Nine of those victims were working on East Asia and the Pacific and one worked on Europe, according to the briefing details shared via email by the staffer, who declined to be named.

The staffer works for Senator Eric Schmitt.

US officials and Microsoft said in July that Chinese state-linked hackers since May had accessed email accounts at around 25 organizations, including the US Commerce and State Departments. The extent of the compromise remains unclear.

US allegations that China was behind the breach have strained an already tense relationship between the countries, as Beijing has denied the charges.

The State Department individuals whose accounts were compromised mostly focused on Indo-Pacific diplomacy efforts, and the hackers also obtained a list containing all of the department's emails, according to the Wednesday briefing.

The sweeping hack has refocused attention on Microsoft's outsize role in providing IT services to the US government. The State Department has begun moving to "hybrid" environments with multiple vendor companies and improved uptake of multi-factor authentication, as part of measures to protect its systems, according to the officials at the briefing.

The hackers compromised a Microsoft engineer's device, which allowed them to breach the State Department's email accounts, according to the briefing.

Microsoft earlier this month said

that a hack of senior officials at the US State and Commerce Departments stemmed from the compromise of a Microsoft engineer's corporate account.

"We need to harden our defenses against these types of cyberattacks and intrusions," Schmitt said in a statement shared by the staffer in an email to Reuters following the briefing.

"We need to take a hard look at the federal government's reliance on a single vendor as a potential weak point," he said.

A Microsoft spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the Senate briefing. The company, which has

faced criticism

over its security practices since the breaches, has said that the hacking group behind them - dubbed Storm-0558 - had

broken into webmail accounts

running on the firm's Outlook service.

The State Department did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Wednesday, and Schmitt wasn't available for an interview.


US Targets Iran Drone Procurement Network, Accuses It of Aiding Russia

A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)
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US Targets Iran Drone Procurement Network, Accuses It of Aiding Russia

A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)
A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. (Reuters)

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a network it said was helping procure sensitive parts for Iran's drone program, and accused Tehran of supplying Russia with drones to support Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The network has facilitated shipments and financial transactions in support of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) procurement of a critical component used in Iran's Shahed-136 drones, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The move is the latest in a series of recent sanctions on Iran. Wednesday's action targets entities and individuals in Iran, China, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the department said.

"Iranian-made UAVs continue to be a key tool for Russia in its attacks in Ukraine, including those that terrorize Ukrainian citizens and attack its critical infrastructure," Treasury official Brian Nelson said in a statement.


Russia Accuses Ukraine’s Western Allies of Helping Attack Its Black Sea Fleet Headquarters

 This satellite photo provide by Planet Labs PBC on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. The building was struck in a missile attack launched by the Ukrainian military. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite photo provide by Planet Labs PBC on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. The building was struck in a missile attack launched by the Ukrainian military. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
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Russia Accuses Ukraine’s Western Allies of Helping Attack Its Black Sea Fleet Headquarters

 This satellite photo provide by Planet Labs PBC on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. The building was struck in a missile attack launched by the Ukrainian military. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite photo provide by Planet Labs PBC on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. The building was struck in a missile attack launched by the Ukrainian military. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine’s Western allies of helping plan and conduct last week’s missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters on the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

“There is no doubt that the attack had been planned in advance using Western intelligence means, NATO satellite assets and reconnaissance planes and was implemented upon the advice of American and British security agencies and in close coordination with them,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

Moscow has repeatedly claimed that the US and its NATO allies have effectively become involved in the conflict by supplying weapons to Ukraine and providing it with intelligence information and helping plan attacks on Russian facilities.

Unconfirmed news reports said Storm Shadow missiles provided to Ukraine by the UK and France were used in the attack on the headquarters.

The UK Ministry of Defense didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Zakharova's remarks or reports that Storm Shadow missiles were used in the strike.

The accusation came as new video reported to show that the fleet’s commander, Adm. Viktor Sokolov, was still alive despite Ukraine’s claims — without providing supporting evidence — that he was among 34 officers killed in Friday’s strike on the port city of Sevastopol.

The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been a frequent target since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Crimea has served as the key hub supporting the invasion and has increasingly come under fire by Ukraine.

Ukraine said the strike that put a large hole in the main building of the headquarters had wounded 105 people, though those claims couldn't independently be verified.

Russia initially said one serviceman was killed but quickly retracted that statement and said the person was missing.

Moscow has provided no updates on any casualties.

The Kremlin didn’t comment on Sokolov’s status, but the Defense Ministry on Tuesday released a video showing him among other senior officers attending a video conference with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Sokolov didn’t speak in the clip.

When asked about Sokolov on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that he took part in the call with Shoigu but refrained from further comment.

Russian state television stations on Wednesday showed Sokolov speaking to journalists in Sevastopol after handing awards to a Black Sea Fleet soccer team. Sokolov was asked to say a few words to residents after the latest developments — an apparent reference to the Ukrainian claim that he was killed with scores of other officers in the missile strike on the fleet’s headquarters.

“What happened to us? Nothing happened to us,” Sokolov responded. “Life goes on. The Black Sea Fleet confidently and successfully carries out the tasks assigned to it by the command. Surface forces, submarine forces, naval aviation, and coastal troops are successfully completing tasks.”

Ukraine’s Special Operation Forces posted a statement Tuesday saying its sources claimed that Sokolov was among the dead, many of whom hadn’t yet been identified. It said it was trying to verify the claim after the video surfaced.

Zakharova's statements follow comments made Tuesday by Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, who said the arrival of American-made Abrams tanks in Ukraine and a US promise to supply an unspecified number of long-range ATACMS missiles would push NATO closer to a direct conflict with Russia.