Manmohan Singh’s demise: Centre announces 7-day mourning
Singh’s last rites will be conducted with full state honours.
New bill would mandate gyms to carry equipment for Americans with disabilities
Congressional Democrats are pushing for federal policies mandating that gyms and fitness centers in the U.S. be accessible for Americans with disabilities. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., introduced a bill “to promote the provision of exercise machines and equipment, and exercise and fitness classes and instruction, that are accessible to individuals with disabilities” earlier this week, the Congressional Record shows. It appears to be a companion bill to the “Exercise and Fitness For All Act” introduced in the upper chamber by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., earlier this year. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ The legislation would direct the U.S. Access Board, a federal agency regulating accessibility for people with disabilities, to create new rules for fitness facilities across the country. It would mandate “that exercise or fitness instruction offered by the exercise or fitness service provider are accessible to individuals with disabilities,” and that at least one employee trained in working with people with disabilities be on the clock during all operating hours. If implemented, it would be a significant step forward for accessibility advocates in the U.S., and a significant change for potentially hundreds of U.S. businesses. DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL BY HOUSE GOP LAWMAKER Duckworth told Forbes in July of this year that part of her inspiration for the bill came from her own struggles to find adequate gym equipment. Duckworth, a retired lieutenant colonel, lost both of her legs when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the helicopter she was co-piloting in Iraq in 2004. She and DeSaulnier were both part of a prior push in the 117th Congress to introduce the bill, alongside late Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. “[F]ar too many Americans are still excluded from basic access to exercise equipment and fitness classes due to outdated equipment and services, inaccessible to individuals with disabilities,” DeSaulnier said in a statement at the time. “It is unacceptable that these barriers still exist that make it more difficult for individuals with disabilities to get the exercise they need to live healthy lives.” His re-introduction of the bill on Tuesday appears to be largely symbolic, considering there are no more legislative days in the 118th Congress’ calendar. Fox News Digital reached out to DeSaulnier’s office for further comment.
Record number of migrants died in attempt to reach Spain this year
More than 10,000 migrants perished – an average of 30 a day – in 2024 while trying to reach Spain, NGO says in new report. More than 10,000 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea this year, a report released by a Spanish migration rights group has revealed, the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007. On average, that means 30 migrants died every day this year attempting to reach the country by boat, the NGO Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said on Thursday. Overall deaths rose by 58 percent compared with last year, the report added. Tens of thousands of migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago close to the African coast that has increasingly been used as a stepping stone to continental Europe. Caminando Fronteras said most of the 10,457 deaths recorded up until December 15 took place along that crossing, the so-called Atlantic route – considered one of the world’s most dangerous. The organisation compiles its figures from families of migrants and official statistics of those rescued. It included 1,538 children and 421 women among the dead. April and May were the deadliest months, the report said. Advertisement It blamed the use of flimsy boats and increasingly dangerous routes as well as the insufficient capacity of maritime rescue services for the surge in deaths. “These figures are evidence of a profound failure of rescue and protection systems. More than 10,400 people dead or missing in a single year is an unacceptable tragedy,” the group’s founder, Helena Maleno, said in a statement. The victims were from 28 nations, mostly in Africa, but also from Iraq and Pakistan. Many migrants, including women, also experience “violence, discrimination, racism, deportations and sexual violence, being forced to survive in extreme conditions” before departing, the report said. Caminando Fronteras also noted a “sharp increase” in 2024 in boats leaving from Mauritania, which it said became the main departure point en route to the Canary Islands. Seven migrant boats landed in the archipelago on Wednesday, Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on social media site X. In February, Spain pledged 210 million euros ($218m) in aid to Mauritania to help it crack down on human smugglers and prevent boats from taking off. At their closest point, the Canaries lie 100km (62 miles) off the coast of North Africa. The shortest route is between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and the island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries. But the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands is particularly dangerous because of strong currents. Along with Italy and Greece, Spain is one of the three main European gateways for migrant arrivals. Advertisement Spain’s Ministry of Interior says more than 57,700 migrants reached Spain by boat until December 15 this year, a roughly 12 percent increase from the same period last year. The majority of them came through the Atlantic route. Adblock test (Why?)
Sudan’s war came to represent the worst of humanity
In Sudan, 20 months of armed conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army (SAF) have killed at least 20,000 people and left some 25 million – half of the country’s population – suffering from severe hunger and in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, 14 million Sudanese have been displaced, with about 3.1 million seeking refuge outside the country, mainly in Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, and Egypt. As is often the case, children are bearing the brunt of this brutal war. According to medical organisation Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, approximately one in six of those treated at the Bashair Teaching Hospital in South Khartoum for war-related injuries, such as gunshot, shrapnel and blast wounds, between January and September 2024 were aged 15 or below. The medical team revealed that they recently treated an 18-month-old baby, Riyad, who was hit by a stray bullet while napping in his family’s home. They said they managed to stabilise him but were unable to remove the bullet from his chest. Amid ongoing conflict and limited access to medical care, the future of Riyad, like thousands of other war-wounded, traumatised and orphaned children across the country, remains uncertain. Advertisement Sexual violence is also rife in Sudan’s conflict. Forces commanded by both the RSF and the SAF have committed rape and other acts of sexual and gender-based violence, revealed the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan in its report published in October. The report accused both sides of using rape as a weapon of war but said the RSF was behind the “large majority” of documented cases and was responsible for “sexual violence on a large scale”, including “gang rapes and abducting and detaining victims in conditions that amount to sexual slavery”. Amid ongoing conflict, survivors of rape and other sexual violence struggle to access medical treatment, essential medication, and psychological support services. Many are left wounded, traumatised, and homeless. With war crimes and other atrocities committed against men, women and even children on a daily basis with impunity, Sudan’s conflict has come to represent the worst of humanity. As the people of Sudan prepare to begin another year hungry, wounded and scared, the international community, and especially the African organisations allegedly committed to ensuring peace and stability in the region, have a responsibility to take meaningful action – including direct intervention. So far, efforts to put an end to the suffering of the Sudanese by mediating between the warring parties have all been fruitless. Peace initiatives led by the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the United States, Egypt and Switzerland have all failed to secure a sustainable ceasefire, a comprehensive peace agreement or meaningful protections for the civilian population. Advertisement In May 2023, just one month into the conflict, the two warring sides appeared to have reached a pivotal agreement in Saudi Arabia. They signed the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, agreeing to “distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military targets”. As part of the agreement they also pledged to “refrain from any attack that may be expected to cause incidental civilian harm” and to “protect all public and private facilities, such as hospitals and water and electricity installations”. The agreement was supposed to result in at least a weeklong ceasefire, but in the end could not stop atrocities against civilians, let alone the relentless fighting between SAF and RSF, even for 48 hours. Since this US- and Saudi Arabia-led initiative failed some 19 months ago, no peace initiative has come anywhere near putting an end to the carnage in Sudan. In August, talks convened by the US in Switzerland to end the war achieved some progress on aid access, but once again failed to secure a ceasefire. Efforts to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table and appeals to their humanity to demand an end to the attacks on civilians are clearly not working. More needs to be done. In its harrowing report, based on testimonies from the ground, the UN fact-finding mission made clear what the country needs: An international peacekeeping force to be deployed to protect civilians. “Given the failure of the warring parties to spare civilians, it is imperative that an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians be deployed without delay,” the UN mission’s lead, Chande Othman, said in September. Advertisement Regrettably, the Sudanese government rejected the call, just as it rejected IGAD’s similar call for the deployment of a regional peacekeeping force back in July 2023. The military government in Khartoum – which has been in office since seizing power from a civilian-led transitional authority in an October 2021 coup – frames any potential external intervention, including peacekeeping missions solely focused on the protection of the civilian population, as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. If the Sudanese government was able to provide protection to civilians, its rejection of outside intervention would be understandable. But it is obvious – after 20 months of devastating war fought with no regard for international humanitarian law – that no party in this war is capable of, or sufficiently concerned about, providing safety, security and dignity to Sudan’s beleaguered civilian population. Without the deployment of a regional peacekeeping mission backed by the international community – a mission committed to and clearly tasked with putting an immediate end to the relentless attacks on civilians – the suffering of the Sudanese civilians will not come to an end in the foreseeable future. Today, the global community, and especially the AU, faces a simple choice: Remain passive while the death toll in Sudan continues to rise, or take meaningful and decisive measures – even if it upsets the Sudanese government – to address the crisis. The regional body would lose any legitimacy if it chooses to watch idly as innocent lives are lost to senseless violence in a war without end. Advertisement As
India’s former PM Manmohan Singh dies aged 92
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who governed the South Asian country for two terms and liberalised its economy in an earlier stint as finance minister, has died. He was 92. Singh, an economist-turned-politician who also served as the governor of the Central Bank of India, was ailing and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi late on Thursday. His health deteriorated due to “sudden loss of consciousness at home”, the hospital said in a statement. He was “being treated for age-related medical conditions”, the statement added. With profound grief, we inform the demise of the former Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, aged 92. He was being treated for age-related medical conditions and had a sudden loss of consciousness at home on 26 December 2024. Resuscitative measures were started immediately… pic.twitter.com/ZX9NakKo7Y — ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2024 A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of India’s longest serving prime ministers, holding the office from 2004 to 2014 and earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. Advertisement Singh adopted a low profile after relinquishing the post of prime minister. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who succeeded Singh in 2014, called him one of India’s “most distinguished leaders” who rose from humble origins and left “a strong imprint on our economic policy over the years”. “As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi said in a post on X. He called Singh’s interventions in parliament as a lawmaker “insightful” and said “his wisdom and humility were always visible”. India mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders, Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji. Rising from humble origins, he rose to become a respected economist. He served in various government positions as well, including as Finance Minister, leaving a strong imprint on our economic… pic.twitter.com/clW00Yv6oP — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 26, 2024 Born in 1932 into a poor family in a part of British-ruled India now in Pakistan, Singh studied by candlelight to win a place at Cambridge University before heading to Oxford, earning a doctorate with a thesis on the role of exports and free trade in India’s economy. He became a respected economist, then India’s Central Bank governor and a government adviser but had no apparent plans for a political career when he was suddenly tapped to become finance minister in 1991. During that tenure to 1996, Singh was the architect of reforms that saved India’s economy from a severe balance of payments crisis and promoted deregulation and other measures that opened an insular country to the world. Manmohan Singh Ji led India with immense wisdom and integrity. His humility and deep understanding of economics inspired the nation. My heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Kaur and the family. I have lost a mentor and guide. Millions of us who admired him will remember him with the… pic.twitter.com/bYT5o1ZN2R — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 26, 2024 Advertisement Singh’s ascension to prime minister in 2004 was even more unexpected. He was asked to take on the job by Sonia Gandhi after she led the centre-left Indian National Congress party to a surprise victory. Italian by birth, she feared her ancestry would be used by Hindu-nationalist opponents to attack the government if she were to lead the country. Riding an unprecedented period of economic growth, Singh’s government shared the spoils of the country’s new-found wealth, introducing welfare schemes such as a jobs programme for the rural poor. In 2008, his government also clinched a landmark deal that permitted peaceful trade in nuclear energy with the United States for the first time in three decades, paving the way for strong relations between New Delhi and Washington. However, his efforts to further open up the Indian economy were frequently frustrated by political wrangling within his own party and demands made by coalition partners. In 2012, his government was tipped into a minority after the Congress party’s biggest ally quit their coalition in protest at the entry of foreign supermarkets. Two years later, Congress was decisively swept aside by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. At a news conference months before he left office, Singh insisted he had done the best he could for the country. “I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or, for that matter, the opposition parties in parliament,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)
Manmohan Singh passes away at 92: India’s former PM is survived by…
Manmohan Singh retired from Rajya Sabha earlier this year after serving for 33 years in the house.
Former presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson announces bid for DNC chair, looks to ‘reinvent the party’
Former presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson announced a bid to become the next Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair. In a letter addressed to DNC members posted to her Transform with Marianne Williamson site, she pledged that as chair she would seek to “reinvent the party.” She also warned that President-elect Trump’s political accomplishments should not be underestimated. “President Trump has ushered in an age of political theatre – a collective adrenaline rush that has enabled him to not only move masses of people into his camp but also masses of people away from ours. It does not serve us to underestimate the historic nature of what he has achieved,” Williamson said. DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: MORE CANDIDATES JUMP INTO WIDE-OPEN RACE FOR DNC CHAIR “In fact, it’s important that we recognize the psychological and emotional dimensions of Trump’s appeal. We need to understand it to create the energy to counter it. MAGA is a distinctly 21st century political movement, and it will not be defeated by a 20th century tool kit. Data analysis, fundraising, field organizing, and beefed-up technology – while all are important – will not be enough to prepare the way for Democratic victory in 2024 and beyond,” she asserted. “We will create a surge of patriotic fervor, and a connectedness of the American heart to the great historical legacy of this country. Our ultimate success will be creating in people’s minds a sense that in order to further that legacy, your smartest move is to vote for Democrats,” she contended. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR FRONTRUNNER ACKNOWLEDGES ‘WE’RE GETTING OUR BUTTS KICKED RIGHT NOW’ Williamson, an author who says she has “worked as a spiritual/political activist” over the course of her career, pursued the Democratic presidential nomination during the last two presidential election cycles but failed to gain traction in both cases. In early 2020 she dropped out before the first nominating contest, the Iowa caucus, took place. In 2024, she suspended her campaign in February but unsuspended it later that same month. OUTGOING DNC CHAIR DEFENDS PARTY, SAYS 2024 COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE FOR DEMOCRATS Other figures have also announced bids for the DNC chair role, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who recently served as Social Security Administration commissioner.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to failing to elect a House speaker quickly
The problem has been percolating for a while. It’s been subterranean. Lurking underneath the surface. Not necessarily perceptible. Except to those who follow Congress closely. But the issue has gurgled to the top since the House stumbled badly trying to avert a government shutdown last week. DOZENS OF HOUSE LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND FUNDING AFGHAN VISA PROGRAMS AS TRUMP VOWS MAJOR SPENDING CUTS To wit: Congress spasmed between a staggering, 1,500-page spending bill. Then defeated a narrow, 116-page bill – which President-elect Trump endorsed. Things got worse when the House only commandeered a scant 174 yeas for the Trump-supported bill and 38 Republicans voted nay. Circumstances grew even more dire when the House actually voted to avert a holiday government shutdown – but passed the bill with more Democrats (196) than Republicans (170). Thirty-four GOPers voted nay. It was long likely that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., might face a problem winning the speaker’s gavel immediately when the new Congress convenes at noon ET on Jan. 3. Congressional experts knew that Johnson could be in trouble once the contours of the reed-thin House majority came into focus weeks after the November election. This could blossom into a full-blown crisis for Johnson – and House Republicans –when the speaker’s vote commences a little after 1 p.m. ET next Friday. Johnson emerges bruised from last week’s government funding donnybrook. Anywhere from four to 10 Republicans could oppose Johnson in the speaker’s race. DONALD TRUMP SAYS MIKE JOHNSON WILL ‘EASILY REMAIN SPEAKER’ IF HE ACTS ‘DECISIVELY AND TOUGH’ ON SPENDING BILL Here’s the math: The House clocks in at 434 members with one vacancy. That’s thanks to former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. He resigned his position for this Congress a few weeks ago. Even though Gaetz won re-election in November, his resignation letter – read on the floor of the House – signaled he did not plan to serve in the new Congress, which begins in January. This is the breakdown when the Congress starts: 219 Republicans to 214 Democrats. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., remains in the House for now. So does Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. Trump tapped her to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. That’s pending Senate confirmation – perhaps in late January or early February. Once Waltz and Stefanik resign, the GOP majority dwindles to 217-214. But the speaker’s election on Jan. 3 poses a special challenge. Here’s the bar for Johnson – or anyone else: The speaker of the House must win an outright majority of all members casting ballots for someone by name. In other words, the person with the most votes does not win. That’s what happened repeatedly to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., when he routinely outpolled House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for speaker to begin this Congress in January 2023. But it took days for McCarthy to cross the proper threshold. More on that in a moment. So let’s crunch the math for Mike Johnson. If there are 219 Republicans and four voted for someone besides him – and all Democrats cast ballots for Jeffries, the tally is 215-214. But there’s no speaker. No one attained an outright majority of all members casting ballots for someone by name. The magic number is 218 if all 434 members vote. By rule, this paralyzes the House. The House absolutely, unequivocally, cannot do anything until it elects a speaker. Period. The House can’t swear in members. Technically, they’re still representatives-elect. Only after the House chooses its speaker does he or she in turn swear in the membership. The House certainly can’t pass legislation. It can’t form committees. It’s frozen in a parliamentary paralysis until it elects a speaker. Now, I hope you’re sitting down for the next part. This also means that the House cannot certify the results of the Electoral College, making Trump the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 6. The failure to elect a speaker compels the House to vote over and over… And over… and… over… Until it finally taps someone. McCarthy’s election incinerated 15 ballots over five days two years ago. The House settled into a congressional cryogenic freeze for three weeks after members ousted McCarthy in October 2023. It burned through two speaker candidates off the floor – House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. – and one candidate on the floor: Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. So you see the problem. Consider for a moment that prior to last year, the House never went to a second ballot to select a speaker since Speaker Frederick Gillett, R-Mass., in 1923. It took 63 ballots before the House finally settled on Speaker Howell Cobb, D-Ga., in 1849. But that’s nothing. The longest speaker’s election consumed two months before the House elected Speaker Nathaniel Banks, R-Mass., in 1856 – on the 133rd ballot. So anything which elongates this into a collision with Jan. 6 – the statutory day to certify the election results and now one of the most ignominious days in American history – is dangerous. JOHNSON ALLIES URGE TRUMP TO INTERVENE AS MESSY SPEAKER BATTLE THREATENS TO DELAY 2024 CERTIFICATION To be clear: there is no dispute that Trump won the election. There is no anticipation of a repeat of a riot at the Capitol like four years ago. But a failure to certify the Electoral College on the day it’s supposed to be completed – especially after the 2021 experience – is playing with fire. Such a scenario would again reveal another, never-before-considered vulnerability in the fragile American political system. On Jan. 6, the House and Senate are supposed to meet in a joint session of Congress to tabulate and certify the electoral votes. Any disputes over a state’s slate of electoral votes compels the House and Senate to then debate and vote separately on those results. The election is not final until the joint session concludes and the vice president – in this
Manmohan Singh passes away: Know educational qualifications of former PM
Dr. Singh was deeply respected for his role in transforming India’s economy and was known for the significant economic reforms during his tenure.
Anna University sexual assault case: BJP’s Annamalai vows to not wear sandals till DMK regime is dislodged
The BJP leader, showing photographs of the accused with DMK leaders, alleged that he was a ruling party’s student wing office-bearer.