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Balance of power: Helene could shift political winds toward Trump, North Carolina lawmakers say

Balance of power: Helene could shift political winds toward Trump, North Carolina lawmakers say

With early voting kicking off in North Carolina just weeks after Hurricane Helene hit, lawmakers there are optimistic that the storm will have little impact on Americans’ access to the ballot box. Not only that – a pair of Tar Heel Republican officials told Fox News Digital they believe former President Donald Trump will ultimately win the state. “I think we’re actually going to see a shocking turnout here,” Rep. Jake Johnson, a member of the state assembly, said on Thursday. “People are really going above and beyond to make sure during this time – especially if they’re frustrated about the way the federal government has handled things.” Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., whose congressional district was hit hard by Helene, said, “Although we’re very busy right now recovering from the storm, we remember what all our lives were like the day before Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina.” SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’ “Families were struggling. Gas prices were climbing. We saw an open border that seemed to go unnoticed or ignored by the Harris and Biden administration. We saw a record amount of fentanyl coming into our country,” Edwards said.  Helene ravaged the Southeastern U.S. roughly three weeks ago, killing dozens of people across multiple states.  Northwestern North Carolina was hit particularly hard by the storm and the mudslides it caused, with whole communities believed to have been washed away. Concerns about voter access after the storm were compounded by North Carolina’s status as a swing state. Trump won there by less than 2% in 2020, and both his and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaigns are pouring enormous political resources into the state this year. In a rare show of bipartisanship, however, the Republican-led state legislature worked with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to pass a sweeping elections package to make it easier for people in affected counties to reach a ballot box ahead of Nov. 5. HURRICANE HELENE: NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS FIGHT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL AS BASIC GOODS BECOME SCARCE Edwards, who just last week told Fox News Digital that he was concerned about residents not being able to vote, said he now believes “we’re going to see record turnout at the polls.” The congressman went to an early voting facility himself earlier on Thursday. He spoke with voters he said were “enthused” and “optimistic.” “I was really excited to see the turnout. We had two lanes of traffic down, two different highways with folks coming in to vote,” Edwards said. “There was a lot of energy.” He suggested that the enthusiasm would bode well for Trump, after speaking with voters unhappy with the current state of the country beyond the storm. NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY ‘HUNTING’ FOR MISSING TEACHERS IN ‘DEVASTATING’ AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE HELENE Meanwhile, Johnson said it was the storm recovery itself that would push more people to vote for Trump. He said the “lack of response” some rural areas of North Carolina saw immediately after the storm could spur people in those areas to vote Republican. “If you talk to the average person out there, you know, I think they would agree a lot of this was kind of botched from the top-down as far as the federal response,” Johnson said. “I think we’re actually going to be shocked at the level of turnout, how good it’ll be in western North Carolina.” He and Edwards both also credited the state government’s elections legislation for making it easier for those motivated voters to turn out. Notably, the White House’s response to the storm has been praised by other Republican officials, like the governors of Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee.  Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., a conservative, also had rare praise for President Biden’s handling of the situation. North Carolina residents shattered the state’s first-day early voting record on Thursday, fueling optimism among officials that the storm will ultimately have little impact on likely voters. The State Board of Elections said that 353,166 people voted in-person, breaking the same record set in 2020 by roughly 4,500 votes, according to the Charlotte News & Observer. A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows Harris with a slight two-point lead over Trump in North Carolina. The former president led Harris by the same margin last month.

Is the Western push for a post-war Gaza hasty and unrealistic?

Is the Western push for a post-war Gaza hasty and unrealistic?

World leaders examine the future of Gaza after Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Western leaders say Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s death could open the door for a possible ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war is not over, and Hamas has ruled out the release of Israeli captives until the war ends. So is the Western push for a post-war Gaza hasty and unrealistic? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Said Arikat – Washington bureau chief, Al Quds newspaper Brian Finucane – senior adviser, US Programme, International Crisis Group Benoit Muracciole – president, Action Securite Ethique Republicaines Adblock test (Why?)

Cuba struggles to get energy grid back online after nationwide blackout

Cuba struggles to get energy grid back online after nationwide blackout

The Cuban government has started to restore power to the millions of residents left in the dark during a nationwide power outage this week. On Saturday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel sought to reassure the country, amid the continuing struggles with the electrical grid. “We are working hard and tirelessly to recover the electrical system, according to priority, in order to achieve stability,” he wrote on the social media platform X. He also praised community leaders during the crisis. “It’s admirable, the wisdom and poise of those who are heroes in these complicated hours, many of them young.” The president’s comments come after the entire country was plunged into darkness on Friday, in what experts called the worst blackout in two years. It was the culmination of several days of flickering power, starting on Thursday. Authorities at the time warned the electrical system was overloaded, and they called on nonessential activities to stop. Schools were closed until Monday, and certain state workers were sent home. By Friday, however, one of the primary power plants — the Antonio Guiteras plant in the western part of the island — had failed. That caused the power grid to collapse, leaving the entire country without electricity. State-run media reported on Saturday that there was a second collapse, but that crews had begun reconnecting the three major power plants. “I cannot assure you that we will be able to complete linking the system today, but we are estimating that there should be important progress today,” Lazaro Guerra, Cuba’s top electricity official, told a morning news programme, according to the Reuters news agency. The Ministry of Energy and Mining also acknowledged the Saturday morning hiccups in a statement. “Due to the technical complexity of the electrical system restoration process, disconnections of the subsystems may occur, as happened in the west,” it said. “Work is being done on their restoration.” President Diaz-Canel visited the National Electricity Office on Saturday to show his support for the recovery efforts. “We will emerge from this difficult situation,” his administration wrote on social media. Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy also offered updates about the progress. “Generation will gradually continue to increase,” he said, explaining that they “already have 500 megawatts in the system” and “various substations in the west have energy”. Cuba has long struggled with blackouts and instability in its electrical grid, as the result of ageing infrastructure, fuel shortages and a floundering economy. Officials also pointed to the recent ravages of Hurricane Milton, which struck the country with heavy winds and flooding on October 9. Critics, however, have also blamed mismanagement in the Cuban government for the energy crisis. Just this year, in March, hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the capital Havana against food and fuel shortages, as the country’s economy suffers one of its worst crises since the 1990s. United States sanctions have exacerbated the situation, as has instability in countries like Venezuela, one of Cuba’s top petrol suppliers. Adblock test (Why?)

Kamala Harris’s campaign flexes celebrity support in Detroit and Atlanta

Kamala Harris’s campaign flexes celebrity support in Detroit and Atlanta

United States Vice President Kamala Harris has deployed some of the music industry’s star power to rally voters in the final weeks before November’s presidential election. On Saturday, two of the Democratic nominee’s events were headlined by prominent musicians. At her first stop, in Detroit, Michigan, the singer and rapper Lizzo warmed up the crowd with a passionate on-stage endorsement. “I already voted early and I voted for Harris,” the musician, a Detroit native, told a cheering crowd. Michigan is one of about seven key swing states in the presidential race, which could tilt either towards the Democrat or her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump. Later in the day, Harris visited another pivotal battleground: the southern state of Georgia. There, she had also lined up another hometown hero, the musician Usher, who began his music career in Atlanta, the state’s capital. Usher sang a few bars with the crowd before starting his speech. “It’s really great to be home. I’m here, home, for my Past Present Future Tour but took a quick break from that to come here, share a few words with you about the significance of this moment,” he said. “I feel that this is a momentous opportunity for each and every one of us. It’s just 17 days away from a very important election, as we all know, and we have the opportunity to choose a new generation of leadership for our country.” Record early voting Harris’s visit to Michigan on Saturday coincided with the first day of in-person early voting in Detroit. Absentee voting by mail had already begun in the state. Michigan’s online “voting dashboard” indicated that, by Saturday morning, more than 1 million mail-in ballots had been received. It was one of several strong showings across the country, indicating a possible surge in voter enthusiasm. States like North Carolina and Georgia have notched records for early-voting turnout this week, according to officials. The chief operating officer for Georgia’s secretary of state, Gabriel Sterling, posted on social media that turnout continues to be high. Georgia’s first day of early voting was Tuesday. “Congratulations to the counties and especially our great Georgia voters. Y’all have broken another RECORD. Biggest turnout ever for a General Election Saturday,” Sterling wrote. While experts caution against extrapolating too much from the numbers, political analysts note that Democrats have traditionally seen a boost from large early turnouts. Harris sought to build on this year’s momentum during her weekend campaign stops. “Georgia started early voting, broke historic records. North Carolina started early voting, broke historic records in North Carolina. Now, who is the capital of producing records?” she told supporters in Detroit, with a winking reference to the city’s music industry. “So we are going to break some records here in Detroit today.” Addressing war in Gaza During her visit to Michigan, Harris also took the opportunity to repeat her call for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has led a yearlong military campaign, killing more than 42,500 Palestinians. US support for Israel and its war has eroded support for Democrats among Arab and Muslim Americans in Michigan. The state boasts the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, and it also the home of a national protest movement against the administration of President Joe Biden over its stance on the war. Harris, who has also been a recipient of that criticism, voiced hope that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza might usher in an end to hostilities. “This creates an opening that I believe we must take full advantage of — to dedicate ourselves to ending this war and bringing the hostages home,” Harris told reporters in Detroit. She added that Middle East policy has long been a difficult issue for the US. “It has never been easy,” Harris said. “But that doesn’t mean we give up.” Razzing Trump At her campaign rally in Detroit, Harris addressed supporters in front of “Detroit Votes Early” signs — and she and other speakers used their platform to slap back at Republican criticisms of the city. Earlier in the month, Trump cast Detroit in an unflattering light, telling the Detroit Economic Club that another Democratic president would render the entire country like the “Motor City”. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” Trump said of Harris, calling Detroit “a mess”. Harris, by contrast, took the stage on Saturday in a T-shirt that read “Detroit vs Everybody”, a slogan that has adorned clothing lines and rap songs. Lizzo, meanwhile, addressed Trump’s comments more bluntly. “I’m so proud to be from this city,” she told the crowd. “You know, they say if Kamala wins, then the whole country will be like Detroit. Proud like Detroit. Resilient like Detroit.” “Put some respect on Detroit’s name,” she added. Celebrity support Analysts in general say that the Democratic Party has been more successful in rallying star power to its cause this election cycle. Harris not only enjoys the endorsement of figures like Lizzo and Usher, but celebrities like Taylor Swift, Oprah and George Clooney have also announced their support for her since she became the presidential candidate in July. It is not clear, however, if celebrity support actually makes a difference in a campaign. More than 76 percent of voters polled recently by Quinnipiac University said Swift’s endorsement would not affect their ballots. The same goes for Republicans. Two-thirds of those surveyed said entrepreneur Elon Musk’s recent support for Trump would not affect their vote either. But Democrats are nevertheless banking on the glitter of its star power. This upcoming week, for instance, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama are hitting the campaign trail, with only two weeks to go before the election. It will be the first time Michelle has done the rally circuit. Barack, meanwhile, made his first campaign-trail appearance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earlier this month. Both Harris and Trump are trying to squeak ahead in the crucial last weeks of campaigning.