Indian-American engineer announces 2020 Congressional bid from New Jersey
New York: A 33-year-old Indian-American engineer has announced to challenge the Democratic senator from New Jersey in 2020.Hirsh Singh, known as a supporter of President Donald Trump, will seek the Republican nomination for the US Senate in 2020 against Cory Booker, according to the New Jersey Globe news website.
Booker has not yet announced if he will run for re-election, although a new law allows him to simultaneously run for president and re-election to the Senate.
Singh, an engineer from Atlantic County who works in the aerospace and defence industries, filed his campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.
This will be his third bid for public office. He lost the Republican Party primaries for governor in 2017 and Congress in 2018."Booker has brought nothing to New Jersey. Having a US Senator who's not just resisting the president is critical," Singh said.
Singh is the first Republican to announce his intention to challenge Booker, who was re-elected by a 56 per cent to 42 per ent margin in 2014.
He was endorsed by Bill Palatucci, the Republican National Committeeman from New Jersey.Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said Hirsh is bright, ambitious and extremely focused, Shore News Network reported.
"For as long as I have known him, he has been very interested in serving the community and being involved. He's capable of meeting the uphill challenge that lies ahead of him. Cory Booker is a national name with a lot of money, but Hirsh has a good understanding of what he has to do to win," Levinson said.
Somerset Chairman Al Gaburo said: "Hirsh is a good man who will bring real energy and passion to a United States Senate run. I'm glad he's putting himself forward at this critical time".
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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.
