'Donald Trump has failed America,' says Biden
Washington (PTI): US President Joe Biden on Wednesday launched an acerbic attack on his predecessor and potential rival in the 2024 elections, Donald Trump, saying he has "failed America" and alleged that Trump rule was marked by "record-breaking unemployment".
Trump, facing several criminal investigations of his conduct related to his presidency, announced from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday that he will run for the US president in 2024 to make America "great and glorious" again.
Trump, 76, is seeking a potential rematch with Democratic President Biden.
"In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing that I will run for President of the United States. This will be our campaign altogether," he told his cheering supporters.
"Donald Trump has failed America,'' Biden tweeted from Bali in Indonesia, where he is attending the G-20 summit with world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Biden posted a video in which he alleged Trump's tenure was marked by "tax cuts for the rich and corporators," and "record-breaking unemployment."
Trump's fans, however, were delirious at his much-anticipated announcement to run for the 2024 US Presidential elections, terming it a "historic night."
"Tonight, I was honoured to join the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, his family, and many close friends for a special announcement at The Mar-A-Lago Resort in Palm Beach, Florida. It was a historic night! We heard my friend, President Trump, tell America he will indeed run for President in 2024," Charles W Herbster, a close friend of Trump from Nebraska, told PTI.
Popular African-American singer Mary Milben, also congratulated Trump.
"As the 2024 presidential election season commences, we recognise America is facing great challenges, foreign and domestic. In these times, we need a President to restore hope in the hearts of Americans, faith in the souls of humanity, and trust across borders," Millben said.
Shalabh Kumar from the Republican Hindu Coalition said Trump's announcement was historic and his speech inspirational.
"Our goal is to at the minimum, repeat of 2016, 65 per cent Hindu Americans will vote for Trump in 2024," he said.
Donald Trump failed America. pic.twitter.com/fylyocYcse
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 16, 2022
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
