The heads of Israel s two biggest banks will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this month, the first such visits since the two countries agreed to normalise relations. One delegation led by Bank Hapoalim will leave on Sept. 8 and visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where it will meet with government and trade officials as well as the heads of the largest banks in the UAE. Hapoalim CEO Dov Kotler on Sunday called it "a unique opportunity to establish economic relations and cooperation between our countries and their financial systems, which will yield economic growth for both parties." He added there was an "immediate bilateral desire" to establish strong economic ties. The chairman and CEO of Bank Leumi will head a second delegation on Sept. 14. Leumi said it hoped to build on the diplomatic accord by kick-starting cooperation in finance, technology, health, tourism, agriculture and industry. Israel and the UAE announced in August they would normalise diplomatic ties and forge a broad new relationship in a U.S.-brokered deal. Last week, they agreed to set up a joint committee to cooperate on financial services, aiming to promote investment between the two countries. First Abu Dhabi Bank, the UAE s largest lender, said last week it would open discussions with Hapoalim and Leumi.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met U.S. President Donald Trump s senior advisor Jared Kushner in London on Thursday and discussed the Middle East peace process after dropping in on Kushner s meeting with foreign minister Dominic Raab. "The Prime Minister has dropped in on a meeting between the Foreign Secretary and White House Advisor Jared Kushner. They discussed the Middle East Peace Process," an email from Johnson s office said.

Joe Biden plans to hammer President Donald Trump on Wednesday for not helping the nation s schools reopen safely during the coronavirus pandemic, as the Democratic challenger tries to keep the spotlight on the Republican incumbent s handling of the outbreak and the nation s overall security. Biden and his wife, Jill, a longtime college professor and former high school teacher, will meet with public health experts to talk about school reopening options. Then the candidate will deliver remarks – his second speech in three days – outlining his ideas and accusing the president of making the country less safe. The event in Wilmington, Delaware, is the latest in a series of dueling efforts by Trump and Biden to cast the other as a threat to Americans day-to-day security. It will highlight their vastly different arguments, with Trump steering debate toward “law and order” and Biden pushing a broad referendum on Trump s competence. “President Trump has no plan,” said Biden adviser Symone Sanders, previewing the former vice president s remarks on schools and the pandemic. “Instead,” she continued, “he thinks that a fear-mongering campaign stoking violence is going to help him.” Biden, she said, “is demonstrating what a safe America could look like” by talking to experts about school options in a pandemic, while Trump tries to capitalize on the fact that some racial justice protests have led to property damage or turned into violent clashes with counter-protesters. Trump put his approach on display again Tuesday on a trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin, a city still reeling from protests and violence after another Black man, Jacob Blake, was shot by police. The president praised local law enforcement and toured a block charred by protesters fire. He called the destruction “anti-American” and suggested Biden s election would ensure similar scenes in US cities across the country. It was the latest rendition of a theme voiced throughout the Republican National Convention: “You won t be safe in Joe Biden s America.” Trump again did not condemn a 17-year-old vigilante charged in the killings of two protesters in Kenosha, and he again rejected that systemic racism plays any part in U.S. society. Sanders previewed Biden s retort and pivot. “To be clear, we are currently living in Donald Trump s America, and folks have to ask themselves across the country: Are you safe?” she said. With the US COVID-19 death toll nearing 190,000, Sanders declared the answer is “unequivocally” no. Trump s advisers argue that his stance – which includes falsely accusing Biden of championing violent protesters and wanting to “defund the police” — shifts attention away from the pandemic. They also believe the tactics help Trump attract white voters in suburbs and exurbs, key slices of his 2016 coalition. Some Democrats have quietly worried that recent violence might boost Trump s prospects, even as his maneuvers do nothing to quell unrest or perhaps even feed it. Biden s team downplays such concerns, insisting the former vice president simply must counter with steady warnings that Trump is dangerously inept. They see that as an umbrella argument for any number of scenarios – including a discussion of how to reopen schools. Trump s cries of “law-and-order” and “radical leftists” might work, said Biden s campaign co-chairman Cedric Richmond, “if he was the only one talking.” But the Louisiana congressman said Biden has a megaphone, too, and that Trump, even as a “p.r. master,” cannot erase Americans own realities on coronavirus, systemic racism or anything else. “Look, you can t argue that the country is so screwed up only you can fix it when you ve been president for almost four years,” Richmond said in an interview. “His argument is basically, I broke the country. Now reelect me so I can fix it. ”

French President Emmanuel Macron will mark Lebanon s centenary on Tuesday by planting a cedar tree, the emblem of the Middle East nation that is collapsing under the weight of a crippling economic crisis. In his second trip to Lebanon in less than a month, Macron is expected to lean on Lebanon s fractious leaders to carry out economic reforms that are vital to getting the country out of crisis and unlocking foreign aid. With its economy in deep crisis, a swathe of Beirut in tatters following a huge explosion at the port on Aug. 4, and sectarian tensions rising, Lebanon is facing the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-1990 civil war. Macron, who also visited in the immediate aftermath of the blast that killed more than 190 people and injured 6,000, was due to head northeast of Beirut to a reserve to plant the tree. The French air force display team is scheduled to perform a display over the country with Lebanon s national colours. Lebanon s modern borders were proclaimed 100 years ago by France in an imperial carve-up with Britain after the First World War. Lebanon gained independence in 1943. Macron, who has been at the centre of international efforts to press Lebanese leaders to tackle corruption and take other steps to fix their country, began his trip late on Monday by meeting Fairouz, 85, one of the Arab world s most famous singers whose music transcends Lebanon s deep divisions. He was greeted by dozens of protesters gathered outside, who held placards reading "No cabinet by, or with, the murderers" and "Don t be on the wrong side of history!" He told reporters on Monday he wanted to "ensure that the government that is formed will implement the necessary reforms." In the hours before his arrival, Lebanese leaders designated a new prime minister, Mustapha Adib, reaching a consensus among major parties that senior Lebanese politicians said was forged under pressure from Macron over the weekend. Macron agenda includes a tour of the devastated Beirut port, the site of the catastrophic Aug. 4 chemicals explosion, meeting President Michel Aoun for an official reception marking the country s centenary, and an afternoon of political meetings with Lebanon s various factions. After being designated on Monday, Adib called for the rapid formation of a government, the immediate implementation of reforms and an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Lebanon s economic crisis is rooted in decades of state corruption and waste that landed the state with one of the world s heaviest public debt burdens. Since October, the currency has collapsed, savers have been frozen out of their deposits in a paralysed banking system, and poverty and unemployment have soared. France’s foreign minister said last week that Lebanon risked disappearing because of the inaction of its political elite who needed to quickly form a new government to implement reforms.

An Israeli-American delegation was set to take off Monday on the first commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi as the US-brokered peace agreement between Israel and the UAE takes hold. The El Al flight, scheduled to leave at 0730 GMT from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, will carry a delegation led on the American side by President Donald Trump s son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner. The word "peace" was painted on the plane s cockpit in Arabic, English and Hebrew, images issued by El Al showed. The agreement between Israel and the Emirates to make a peace deal was announced on August 13, making the UAE the first Gulf country and only the third Arab nation to establish relations with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan. Israel s National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat will be the most senior figure aboard the flight on the side of Israel. The scheduled talks in Abu Dhabi aim at boosting cooperation between the two regional economic powerhouses in areas including aviation, tourism, trade, health, energy and security. The flight by Israel s national carrier, numbered 971 like the UAE s international dialling code, was reported to have received permission to cross Saudi Arabia s air space. Officials at El Al and the Israel Airport Authority would not confirm the reports, which would be the first known time El Al crosses Saudi airspace. The return flight, set to leave Abu Dhabi on Tuesday morning, is numbered 972 -- Israel s international dialling code. Sparks fly Late Sunday, Israel s health ministry updated its list of "green countries" with low coronavirus infection rates to include the UAE and eight other countries. The change meant the Israeli officials and journalists travelling to Abu Dhabi would be exempted from a 14-day quarantine upon return. Since the agreement between the UAE and Israel was unveiled, there have been phone calls between their ministers, and on Saturday the Emirates in a new milestone repealed a 1972 law boycotting Israel. "It will be permissible to enter, exchange or possess Israeli goods and products of all kinds in the UAE and trade in them," read a federal decree issued by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking alongside Kushner in Jerusalem on Sunday, praised "the swift pace of normalisation" between his country and the UAE. Noting the UAE s Saturday move, Netanyahu said it "opens the door" for "unbridled trade, tourism, investments, exchanges between the Middle East s two most advanced economies". "You will see how the sparks fly on this. It s already happening," he said, predicting that "today s breakthroughs will become tomorrow s norms. It will pave the way for other countries to normalise their ties with Israel." As part of the peace agreement announced by Trump, Israel agreed to suspend its planned annexations in the occupied West Bank, although Netanyahu quickly insisted the plans remained on the table in the long run.

Israel is in secret talks with several Arab states on establishing ties, in addition to its US-backed deal struck with the UAE, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. "There are many more unpublicised meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders to normalise relations with the state of Israel," he said on the eve of Israel s first commercial flight to the United Arab Emirates. The historic flight follows the August 13 announcement of a US-brokered agreement to normalise relations between the two countries, making the UAE the first Gulf country and only the third Arab state to establish relations with Israel after Egypt and Jordan. The Monday morning flight will carry a US-Israeli delegation led on the American side by White House advisor Jared Kushner, who stood next to Netanyahu during the Israeli premier s remarks.

Bahrain said Wednesday it was committed to the creation of a Palestinian state in talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, implicitly rejecting his push for Arab countries to swiftly normalise ties with Israel. Pompeo was in Manama as part of a Middle East trip aimed at forging more links between Israel and the Arab world after a landmark US-brokered deal with the United Arab Emirates. The US chief diplomat has said he is hopeful other nations will follow the UAE, which earlier this month became only the third Arab country to agree to establish relations with the Israel. "Hopeful we will build on this momentum towards regional peace," Pompeo tweeted as he landed in Abu Dhabi, the latest stop on the tour which has taken in Israel, Sudan and Bahrain. However, Sudan s transitional government on Tuesday dashed hopes for a speedy breakthrough, saying it has "no mandate" to take such a weighty step. And Bahrain echoed the sentiments of its ally, regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, that an accord with Israel would not materialise without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Bahrain s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa said he told Pompeo that his country remains committed to the Arab Peace Initiative -- which calls for Israel s complete withdrawal from the Palestinian territories occupied after 1967, in exchange for peace and the full normalisation of relations. "The king stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict according to the two-state solution... to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital," the official Bahrain News Agency reported. Pompeo said in a tweet only that he discussed with Bahrain s royal rulers the "importance of building regional peace and stability" and "countering Iran s malign influence". Manama was the first Gulf country to welcome the UAE rapprochement and was considered a front-runner to follow in its footsteps.

In three decades of failed peace efforts, the Palestinians have never faced a more hostile U.S. administration, a more self-assured Israel or a more ambivalent international community. But even as their hopes for statehood have never seemed so dim, there s no indication their aging leadership will change course. President Mahmoud Abbas remains committed to the same strategy he has pursued for decades, seeking international support to pressure Israel to agree to a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war. President Donald Trump s Mideast plan, which overwhelmingly favors Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians, would remain the cornerstone of U.S. policy for another four years if Trump is reelected. But while the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against them, the Palestinians make up nearly half the population between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Their leaders say Israel still needs their signature if it hopes to resolve the conflict, a source of frustration for Trump s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, the architect of the plan. ``There is an erroneous assumption that the Palestinians are defeated, and they have to accept the facts of their defeat,`` said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official. ``The Palestinians are willing, generation after generation, to continue their struggle until we get our rights. Here s a look at the Palestinians options going forward: The Diplomatic Route The Palestinians demand for a state based on the 1967 lines still enjoys broad international support and is enshrined in U.N. resolutions. Palestine was granted ``observer state status in 2012, allowing it to join several global forums, including the International Criminal Court. The Palestinians have requested an ICC war crimes investigation of Israel that could eventually see charges filed against political or military leaders. Israel is not a member of the ICC and says there is no legal basis for any investigation, but its citizens could be subject to arrest in other countries if warrants are issued. Those moves have put pressure on Israel, but have not led to any concessions. They also haven t prevented it from cultivating closer ties to Arab and African countries that historically supported the Palestinians. The EU, divided and preoccupied by the coronavirus crisis, also seems unable to offer significant support. Boycotts and International Solidarity In recent years, a Palestinian-led international movement has sought to mobilize grassroots support for a campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions. BDS organizers say they are leading a nonviolent campaign for Palestinian rights modeled on the struggle against apartheid South Africa. Israel accuses them of seeking to delegitimize its existence. While BDS has notched some successes, it has had no discernible impact on Israel s economy. Popular among left-wing activists in Western countries, it also has faced setbacks, including anti-BDS legislation in the U.S. and Germany. Tareq Baconi, an analyst for the International Crisis Group, says the growing solidarity between Palestinian and Black Lives Matter activists ``is an example of some of the pressure that can be brought to bear on Israel eventually. But this is, for the moment, too fragmented and not sufficiently powerful enough to have any kind of political leverage.`` A One-State Solution In recent years a growing number of Palestinians and their supporters have suggested abandoning the two-state solution in favor of a single binational state for Jews and Palestinians or some kind of Israeli-Palestinian confederation. The idea gained new attention last month when Peter Beinart, a prominent Jewish-American commentator, came out in favor of the idea. The argument is that Israel s right-wing government and its sprawling West Bank settlements _ now home to more than 500,000 Israelis _ make any partition impossible. There have been no substantive peace talks in more than a decade. One-state proponents say Palestinians should instead seek equal rights, including the vote. While it has gained traction among intellectuals, the idea has little support in Israel or the Palestinian territories. A June poll carried out by the respected Palestinian Center for Survey and Policy Research found that just 37% of Palestinians support the idea, and only 6% would choose it over other options. The Palestinian leadership remains staunchly opposed to a one-state solution, which would entail dismantling the Palestinian Authority and plunging into an uncertain future. Cleaning House Many Palestinians argue that their leadership needs to pursue fundamental reforms. Abbas popularity has plunged in recent years and the Palestinian Authority is widely seen as corrupt and incompetent. There have been no national elections in nearly 15 years because of the bitter division between Abbas Fatah movement and the Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized Gaza from his forces in 2007. Fatah and Hamas are united in their rejection of the Trump plan and Arab normalization and in recent weeks have held joint meetings and rallies to project a united front. But several past attempts at a broader reconciliation have all failed. That has left the 85-year-old Abbas entrenched at the head of an aging and inflexible Palestinian leadership. Banking on Biden The election of former Vice President Joe Biden would likely spell the end of the Trump plan. But few Palestinians believe a return to the Obama-era approach of trying to coax the two sides toward a negotiated settlement will succeed. ``It s very difficult to envision anyone doing more damage than Trump, Ashrawi said. ``At the same time, I would like to caution against thinking that Biden is a knight in shining armor. Biden ``will go back to managing the conflict, said Ali Jarbawi, a political science professor at Birzeit University in the West Bank. ``Under the banner of a two-state solution you give money to the Palestinians, you tell the Israelis please don t do this and don t do that, and engage once more in negotiating that will take another 20 years.`` he said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday left Israel for Sudan, the next stop on his regional tour, on the first official direct flight from Tel Aviv to Khartoum. Video released by the US embassy in Jerusalem showed an official greeting Pompeo as he walked onto the plane, saying "You are now on a historic flight," and the top US diplomat nodding in agreement. Israel and Sudan do not have diplomatic relations and, barring a last-minute route change, it would be the first such non-stop flight, US officials said. Israel has regular commercial flights to Egypt, Sudan s northern neighbour, with which it signed a peace agreement in 1979. Pompeo s trip, also taking in Bahrain and the UAE, comes in the wake of the August 13 announcement of a US-brokered normalisation of relations between the Emirates and the Jewish state. Speaking in Jerusalem on Monday, both Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that they were hopeful that other Arab states would follow suit. The deal with the UAE is not strictly-speaking a peace deal as the two states have never been at war.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Israel on Monday to start a five-day Middle East tour focused on Israel s peace deal with the United Arab Emirates and pushing other Arab states to follow suit. Pompeo, wearing a face mask in the colours of the US flag, was due to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in coming days also visit Sudan, Bahrain and the UAE, the State Department said. In Jerusalem, Pompeo and Netanyahu were due to discuss "regional security issues related to Iran s malicious influence" and "establishing and deepening Israel s relationships in the region," the State Department said. Netanyahu said Sunday he and Pompeo would talk about "expanding the circle of peace in our region ... We re working on peace with more countries, and I think there will be more countries -- and in the not-so-distant future." Israel had previously only signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. President Donald Trump s Middle East peace plan, announced in January, forsees cooperation between Israel and those Arab countries. The pro-Netanyahu daily Israel Hayom said on Sunday that direct talks with the UAE on the wording of the deal were close to starting and that "a full agreement could be reached within a month" with a signing at the White House. Bahrain, Oman, Sudan? Under the US-brokered agreement announced on August 13, Israel pledged to suspend its previous plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, without saying for how long. The Palestinians have slammed the UAE s move as a "stab in the back" while their own conflict with Israel remains unresolved. The UAE ambassador to Washington, writing in Israel s Yediot Aharonot newspaper, argued that closer ties would benefit everybody and "help move the region beyond the ugly legacy of hostility and conflicts, towards a destiny of hope, peace and prosperity". Israel remains technically at war with Sudan, which for years supported hardline Islamist forces. The State Department said Pompeo would meet Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok during his tour, to "express support for deepening the Sudan-Israel relationship". Pompeo will also meet Bahrain s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa before meeting UAE foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, it said. Saudi Arabia, in keeping with decades of policy by the majority of Arab states, has said it will not make peace deal until Israel has signed a peace deal with the Palestinians.

United States-led international coalition troops withdrew from Iraq s Taji military base on Sunday and handed it over to Iraqi security forces, Reuters witnesses and the coalition said. The base, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, had been the site of frequent rocket attacks by Iran-backed militias targeting U.S.-led troops in recent months. "The movement of coalition military personnel is part of a long-range plan coordinated with the government of Iraq," the coalition said in a statement, adding that Camp Taji has historically held up to 2,000 coalition members, most of whom have departed this summer. Remaining coalition troops will depart in the coming days after finalising the handing over of equipment to Iraqi security forces, it added. This was the eighth transfer of a coalition portion of an Iraqi base back to Iraqi forces, it said. The withdrawal came days after U.S. President Donald Trump redoubled his promise to withdraw the few U.S. troops still in the country. The United States has had about 5,000 troops stationed in the country and coalition allies a further 2,500. Iraq s parliament had voted this year for the departure of foreign troops from Iraq and U.S. and other coalition troops have been leaving as part of a drawdown. The vote came after a U.S. air strike on Baghdad airport killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama painted a unsparing portrait of American democracy on the brink if President Donald Trump wins in November, warning in a scathing, and at times emotional, address Wednesday that his successor is both unfit for office and apathetic to the nation s founding principles. “This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that s what it takes to win,” Obama said in unflinching remarks on the third night of the Democratic convention. He spoke from Philadelphia, where the United States Constitution was drafted and signed. Obama s address amounted to one of the most sweeping condemnations ever of a sitting president by one of his predecessors. It was aimed squarely at jolting Democrats, as well as Republicans who are skeptical of Trump, ahead of the November election, casting the contest not simply as a choice between two politicians or two parties, but as a test of the endurance of American ideals. Through much of Trump s presidency, Obama has been restrained in his public comments, hewing to the tradition of former Oval Office occupants giving space to the current commander in chief. Yet he has become more pointed in his criticism in recent months, and his remarks Wednesday revealed the full extent of both his personal disregard for the current president and his belief that Trump presents an existential threat to democracy in the United States. Obama said he had initially held out hope that Trump would grow into the job of president — but he has now concluded that Trump not only hasn t, he simply can t. Instead, he said Trump has focused on using the presidency to benefit his friends and family and turned the nation s most powerful office into “one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.” Trump, who appeared to be watching in real time, responded with all-caps tweets, questioning why Obama waited until after the Democratic presidential primary was over to endorse Biden. Obama maintained throughout the primary that he would not endorse a candidate in the large field. Obama s address also amounted to a call to action to a weary and anxious nation, particularly younger Americans frustrated with a government that may often appear out of touch with their interests. Democrats see Obama as a bridge to those voters in the 2020 race, someone who can speak both to Biden s character and to the urgency of progressives pushing for more sweeping change to the nation s economic and domestic policies. He called out in particular to young people who took to the streets of American cities earlier this year to protest police brutality against Black Americans, casting them as the heirs to the legacy of civil rights leaders such as Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who died earlier this summer. “You can give our democracy new meaning,” he said. “You re the missing ingredient — the ones who will decide whether or not America becomes the country that fully lives up to its creed.” Obama cast Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, as well positioned to help that younger generation of activists power through many of the changes they seek. Yet there is an inherent tension in Obama, whose own political rise was fueled by the power of barrier-breaking, generational change, touting Biden, a 77-year-old white man who has spent a career in politics, for the presidency. Indeed, many of Obama s public comments since leaving the White House have focused on encouraging a new generation of political leaders to step up, both in America and around the world. He drew particular attention during the 2020 Democratic primary when he said many of the world s problems have been due to “old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way.” With the general election now in full swing, Obama confidants say that while the former president s support for Biden is unequivocal, he does worry about enthusiasm among younger voters, particularly younger voters of color. He s well aware that one of the reasons Trump currently occupies the Oval Office is that those voters did not show up in the same large numbers in 2016 for Hillary Clinton as they did when he was on the ballot. Obama spoke two nights after his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, headlined the opening night of the convention and delivered her own condemnation of Trump. She urged Democrats to show up to vote the way they did in 2008 and 2012, the elections that sent her husband to the White House on the strength of high turnout among young people, women and voters of color. The fact that the Obamas were headliners on two of the four nights of the Democratic celebration speaks to the crucial role they have in helping Biden try to reassemble that coalition — and the challenge the Democratic Party has in building a new bench of other leaders who can do the same. “When you think about folks who have the capacity to really unify us, there are only a few people,” said Yvette Simpson, chief executive of Democracy for America, a progressive political action committee. “Certainly Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are among them.” Indeed, the former president has enviable popularity, both among Democrats and all Americans. A Fox News poll conducted in May found 93 percent of Democrats had a favorable opinion of Obama, as did 63 percent of all registered voters. Despite that strong support, there has been some rethinking of Obama s legacy among some of his party s most liberal activists, who argue he didn t go far enough in overhauling the nation s health care system and gave too much away to Republicans in fiscal negotiations. Obama himself has acknowledged there was more he wanted to do, but argued he was hamstrung by the realities of a Republican-controlled House, and eventually Senate, for much of his tenure. But some of Obama s more recent comments have energized liberals, who see signs of him embracing some of the tactics of his party s activist wing. Progressives cheered in particular when Obama called for eliminating the Senate filibuster rules requiring 60 votes on major pieces of legislation, calling it a “Jim Crow relic” that is holding up rewriting voting rights laws. His surprise comments came during his eulogy at the funeral of the late civil rights leader and Georgia Rep. John Lewis. “That s the guy we remember from the election of 2008,” Simpson said. “It encouraged me that he might be the guy that pulls Joe Biden along a little bit.”

The son of Lebanon s slain former premier Rafik al-Hariri vowed he would not rest until the killers are punished after a U.N.-backed court on Tuesday convicted a member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group of involvement in the 2005 assassination. In central Beirut, Hariri family members and loyalists stood at his grave waiting for his son, Saad, also a former premier, to speak from outside the tribunal in The Hague. "(For) the first time in Lebanon s history of many political assassinations, the Lebanese find out the truth," Hariri said. "The importance of this historic moment is the message for those that committed this terrorist crime and those who planned it: that the age of using crimes for political aims with impunity and without paying any cost is over." Some Lebanese, including victims of the attack who waited 15 years for a verdict, voiced disbelief at the acquittal of three other Hezbollah members. The tribunal also said it found no evidence of involvement by Shi ite Hezbollah s leadership or by Damascus. "I am shocked. Instead of the network (of culprits) expanding, it is now one superman who has done all of that?" said Sanaa al Sheikh, who was wounded in the Feb. 14, 2005 bomb blast on Beirut s waterfront that killed Hariri and 21 others. She added that she had never expected such an outcome. "They should pay us back the money they got," said Mahmoud, speaking from a Sunni Muslim district of Beirut mostly loyal to the Hariris. The trial cost roughly $1 billion. Hezbollah made no immediate comment on the ruling, but it has denied any involvement in the killing. Fireworks were briefly heard in Beirut s Shi ite southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds sway. "It was a false accusation and thank God now you see that our viewpoint has been confirmed," said Hassan Chouman, a pro-Hezbollah official in a small Beirut neighbourhood. "This has not been on our mind for a long time." SON DEMANDS PUNISHMENT The sentencing of Salim Jamil Ayyash, who was convicted while being tried in absentia for playing a central role in the execution of the attack, will be carried out later. He could face life imprisonment. Hezbollah, designated by Washington as a terrorist group, has more influence than ever on the Lebanese state governed by a sectarian power-sharing system. Christian President Michel Aoun and Shi ite Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, both political allies of Hezbollah, called for unity after the verdict. But Saad al-Hariri said he would not rest until justice had been served. "We tell everybody: nobody (should) expect any more sacrifices from us. We have sacrificed what is dearest to us ... Hezbollah is the one that should make sacrifices today," he said. "It has become clear that the executing network is from within (Hezbollah s) ranks. They think that justice will not reach them and that the punishment will not be served on them. I repeat: we will not rest until punishment is served." The head of the Christian Kataeb party, whose three lawmakers quit over the massive blast in Beirut port this month, said on Twitter: "How long will the world continue to ignore an armed group empowered from abroad and not by Lebanon?"

A U.N.-backed tribunal on Tuesday said there was no evidence the leadership of Hezbollah or the Syrian government were involved in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Four members of the Iran-backed Shi ite movement Hezbollah are charged with conspiracy to carry out the massive bomb attack that killed Hariri and 21 other people. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire, had close ties with the United States, Western and Sunni Gulf Arab allies, and was seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon. He led efforts to rebuild Beirut following the 1975-1990 civil war. "The trial chamber is of the view that Syria and Hezbollah may have had motives to eliminate Mr Hariri and his political allies, however, there is no evidence that the Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Mr. Hariri s murder and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement," said Judge David Re, reading a summary of the court s decision. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the Feb. 14, 2005 bombing. The reading of the verdict by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which began on Tuesday is expected to take several hours, comes as Lebanese are still reeling from the aftermath of a huge explosion that killed 178 people this month and from an economic meltdown that has shattered their lives. Hariri s assassination plunged Lebanon into what was then its worst crisis since the war, setting the stage for years of confrontation between rival political forces. Even before judges began reading their 2,600 page verdict into the Hariri s killing, Lebanon s an-Nahar daily ran a headline: International Justice Defeats Intimidation . The paper published a caricature of Hariri s face looking at a mushroom cloud over the devastated city, with a caption: "May you also (get justice)", referring to an investigation that could unveil the cause of the blast. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday he was not concerned with the trial and that if any members of the group were convicted, it would stand by their innocence. Hezbollah s Al Manar TV and the pro-Damascus Al Mayadeen channel did not cover the trial, which other broadcasters in Lebanon were airing live. Beirut tour guide Nada Nammour, 54, speaking before the reading of the verdict began, said the 2005 bombing was a crime that should be punished. "Lebanon needs to see law and justice." The verdict in The Hague may further polarise the already divided country and complicate an already tumultuous situation after the Aug. 4 blast at Beirut port, where authorities say ammonium nitrate stored unsafely detonated, fuelling public outrage and leading to the government s resignation. Harri s killing removed a powerful Sunni leader and allowed the further political expansion of Shi ite power led by Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon. Justice 15 years on The judgment had initially been expected earlier this month, but was delayed after the port explosion. The investigation and trial in absentia of the four Hezbollah members has taken 15 years and cost roughly $1 billion. It could result in a guilty verdict and later sentencing of up to life imprisonment, or acquittal. DNA evidence showed that the blast that killed Hariri was carried out by a male suicide bomber who was never identified. Prosecutors used cell phone records to argue the men on trial, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi, Assad Hassan Sabra and Hussein Hassan Oneissi, carefully monitored Hariri s movements in the months leading up to the attack to time it and to put forward a fake claim of responsibility as a diversion. Court-appointed lawyers said there is no physical evidence linking the four to the crime and they should be acquitted. Hariri s son Saad, who took his father s mantle and has served as premier three times, has said he was not seeking revenge, but that justice must prevail. Some Lebanese say they are now more concerned with finding out the truth behind the Beirut port blast. "I do want to know what the verdict is ... but what matters now is who did this (port blast) to us because this touched more people," said Francois, a volunteer helping victims in a ruined district.

Top Italian and European Union officials are holding talks in Tunisia on Monday to try to stem the growing numbers of migrants crossing from the North African country to Europe. Tunisia s president, whose young democracy is struggling economically, said he wants the talks to focus not only on security measures to curb migration but also on broader European aid to fight the poverty and joblessness that fuels it. The number of migrants leaving Tunisia has grown as much as fivefold this year compared to last year, for a total of about 5,700 people, according to estimates from the Tunisian Forum of Economic and Social Rights, an aid group following migration flows. More migrants landing in Italy now came from Tunisia than departed from neighboring lawless Libya, according to Italian government figures released Saturday. A total of 16,347 migrants reached Italian shores over the past year, a 149% increase compared to the previous 12-month period, but still a number much lower than in several other recent years. Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and the EU s commissioner for neighboring countries Oliver Varhelyi were scheduled to meet Monday with Tunisian President Kais Saied and other top Tunisian officials. Lamorgese, who visited Tunisia just two weeks ago for similar talks, said the trip is aimed at boosting Europe-wide solidarity with Tunisia. Tunisia s leader said he wants to broaden the migration discussion with Italy to make it more European, according to the official news agency TAP. ``Now is the time to act together to contain the (migratory) pressure and tackle the root causes ... to help change the perception of young people of their reality and of their country and give them hope for a better life in their own country, rather than venturing into an unknown future,`` Saied said in a statement. Tunisia s unemployment rate stood at 15% before the coronavirus pandemic and has since climbed to 21%. The country has struggled to restore prosperity since protesters overthrew a longtime autocrat in 2011, unleashing Arab Spring uprisings around the world. The Italian and EU delegation is also expected to visit the Bardo Museum in Tunis, to honor victims of a 2015 Islamic extremist attack there that killed 21 people of various nationalities. The attack on one of the country s prime tourist sites damaged Tunisia s tourism industry.

The number of migrants landing on Italy s shores has more than doubled in the last year as an economic crisis in Tunisia fuels migration in boats across the Mediterranean, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said on Saturday. More than 21,000 people reached Italy between August 2019 and the end of July, up 148% year-on-year, the minister said, speaking at an annual Aug. 15 press conference. Lamorgese said the majority of the arrivals were "autonomous landings, hard to manage... with small boats and dinghies", rather than those rescued at sea and brought ashore. Many of them land on Italy s southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. In the 12-month period, just over 5,000 people were rescued, mainly by ships operated by NGOs, according to data from the ministry. Over 80% of the migrants reaching Italy left from Tunisia and Libya, the data showed, with Tunisia s crisis stoking the numbers attempting the treacherous crossing. "The numbers aren t very high - they are certainly higher than last year s but we must put them into context: Tunisia is in a deep economic, social and political crisis," Lamorgese told reporters. "We have seen entire families leave to reach Italian territory." For years Italy has been the primary route into Europe for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and other migrants and Libya s west coast a main departure point for African migrants hoping to reach Europe. A peak was reached between August 2016 and July 2017, when almost 183,000 migrants reached Italy. Numbers started falling due to an Italian-led effort to disrupt smuggling networks and support the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats, but have picked up in 2020. Lamorgese s predecessor, head of the anti-immigrant League party Matteo Salvini, took a hardline against charity ships that rescued migrants at sea, closing Italian ports and accusing the rescue groups of de facto collaboration with human traffickers. Lamorgese said that she would meet Tunisian President Kais Saied on Monday to discuss the issue, along with Italy s Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio and EU Commissioners Ylva Johansson and Olivér Várhelyi.

The French military conducted training exercises with Greek forces off the southern island of Crete on Thursday, defence sources said, as tension persisted with Turkey over disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Thursday s exercise was the first manifestation of French President Emmanuel Macron s commitment to temporarily reinforce his country s presence in the eastern Mediterranean. France has called on Turkey to halt oil and gas exploration in disputed waters. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed the situation in the region with Macron by telephone on Wednesday. On Thursday, the French armed forces ministry said it was sending two Rafale fighter jets and the naval frigate ‘Lafayette’ to the eastern Mediterranean. The frigate and the jets had arrived in Crete earlier on Thursday and carried out joint manoeuvres with Greek forces, the Greek defence sources said. "Emmanuel Macron is a true friend of Greece and a fervent defender of European values and international law," Mitsotakis tweeted, in French, after the call with Macron. Tensions have simmered between NATO allies Greece and Turkey in recent days over overlapping claims to hydrocarbon resources in Mediterranean waters. A Turkish seismic vessel, the Oruc Reis, has been sailing between Crete and Cyprus since Monday, despatched by Ankara days after Greece signed a maritime deal with Egypt designating an exclusive economic zone between the two nations. Turkey says it plans to open up some of the area for potential hydrocarbon exploration, and a precursor to that is collecting seismic data it can process and sell to potential bidders. Both countries lay claim to the area.

The United States on Tuesday circulated a revised resolution that would extend a U.N. arms embargo on Iran indefinitely, seeking to gain more support in the 15-member Security Council where veto-wielding Russia and China have voiced strong opposition. U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said the new draft ``takes council views into account and simply does what everyone knows should be done _ extend the arms embargo to prevent Iran from freely buying and selling conventional weapons. ``It is only common sense that the world s (hash)1 state sponsor of terror not be given the means of unleashing even greater harm on the world, she said in a statement. Council diplomats said the revised draft could be put in a final form Thursday and put to a vote Friday. The revised draft, obtained by The Associated Press, is just four paragraphs and replaces the original seven-page, 35-paragraph draft circulated in June. The original draft included several provisions that some diplomats objected to as going beyond the extension of the arms embargo, and were eliminated. One provision in the original resolution would have authorized all U.N. member states to inspect cargo entering or transiting through their territory at airports, seaports and free trade zones from Iran or heading there, if the member state had ``reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contained banned items. Another provision would have condemned a September 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia and December 2019 attacks on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, saying Iran was responsible. The new draft states that the arms embargo, notwithstanding its Oct. 18 expiration, ``shall continue to apply until the Security Council decides otherwise. It says that full implementation of the arms embargo ``is essential to the maintenance of international peace and security. Iran s U.N. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi tweeted: ``Rebuffed by UNSC (Security Council) members, US was forced to retreat from its draft resolution ... and proposed another version.`` ``The new draft is similar _ in its NATURE and GOAL _ to the previous,`` he tweeted. ``Confident that the Council will _ again _ reject this move.`` The United Nations banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. That blocked Iran from replacing its aging military equipment, much of which had been purchased by the shah before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An earlier embargo targeted Iranian arms exports. The U.S. push to make the arms embargo permanent follows President Donald Trump s 2018 withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between six major powers and Iran, aimed at preventing Iranian development of nuclear weapons. Tehran has repeatedly insisted it has no interest or intention to produce a nuclear bomb. The 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the nuclear deal includes a provision lifting the arms embargo on Iran on Oct. 18. The foreign ministers of Russia and China, in separate letters to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council last month, were sharply critical of the U.S. effort to indefinitely extend the arms embargo. They gave every indication they would veto any such resolution if it got the minimum nine ``yes votes in the 15-member council, which appears unlikely. If the resolution is defeated, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested the U.S. would invoke the ``snap back mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal that would restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran. ``Snap back`` was envisioned in the event Iran was proven to be in violation of the accord, under which it received billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Trump administration of waging a politically motivated campaign against Iran and called for ``universal condemnation of the U.S. attempt to impose a permanent arms embargo on the Islamic Republic. He said Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and now has no legal right to try to use the U.N. resolution endorsing the deal to indefinitely continue the embargo. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the arms embargo should be lifted Oct. 18. He also argued that since the U.S. is no longer a party to the nuclear deal it ``has no right to demand the Security Council to activate the rapid reinstatement of sanctions through the ``snap back provision. The five remaining signatories to the 2015 deal _ Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany _ remain committed to the agreement. Diplomats from several of these countries have expressed serious concern that extending the arms embargo would lead to Iran s exit from the deal and its speeded-up pursuit of nuclear weapons. The U.S. argues that Iran hasn t been cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency for a year and has been moving a lot of weapons to proxies in the Middle East despite the embargo. If the embargo is lifted, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency predicted in 2019 that Iran likely would try to purchase Russian Su-30 fighter jets, Yak-130 trainer aircraft and T-90 tanks. Tehran also may try to buy Russia s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system and its Bastian coastal defense missile system, the agency said.

"I don t want to die." Those were the first words Hiba s six-year-old son screamed after the massive explosion at Beirut port sent shards of glass flying around their house. The blast a week ago that temporarily displaced 100,000 children, according to a UN estimate, was so mighty it had the magnitude of an earthquake. The mental shock it caused among Beirut s youngest was just as powerful. When the boy saw blood on his feet, "he started screaming: Mom, I don t want to die ," Hiba recalled. "What is this life? Coronavirus and an explosion!," her son told her after the blast. "Imagine that!" said the mother. "A child only six years old asking this question." The 35-year-old mother of two, who asked to withhold the names of her children and their family name, said her entire building shook when the catastrophe struck on August 4. Her son, who was sitting on a living room couch just across from her, was speckled with shards of glass from a blown-out window. "The shattered glass whirled around us," Hiba said, a scene described by countless survivors. For a few seconds her son sat motionless and unscathed on the couch. She then dragged him out of the room, they boy barefoot on a carpet of splintered glass that cut bloody gashes into his feet. "My son now twitches in panic every time he hears a loud sound," she said. - Bottling up emotions - Hiba s son was not the only one left traumatised. His infant sister, born just 16 days before the explosion, lost conciousness for 20 minutes. "It took a lot of time before she began to wake up and start crying," said Hiba, so shocked herself that she has struggled to breastfeed her since. She said she now keeps her son in his room, surrounded by his toys, instead of in the living room where the television broadcasts scenes of grief and devastation all day long. "I don t know if he is bottling up his emotions," Hiba said. "But I m trying to spend a lot of time with him in case he needs to talk." The explosion that gutted swathes of the city killed at least 160 people and left 6,000 people physically wounded. Children are among the casualties and the UN children s agency UNICEF has warned that "those who survived are traumatised and in shock". In a video widely shared on social media showing plumes of smoke rising from the harbourside, the almost playful voice of a child can initially be heard in the background, saying "explosion, explosion". When the impact from the massive blast hits him, the same child also screams, in English: "Mom, I don t want to die." On Lebanese TV, the mother of a three-year-old girl killed in the blast gave an emotional testimony in which she shared her feeling of guilt about having tried to raise a child in a dysfunctional country. "I want to apologise to Alexandra," she said, "because I did not take her out of Lebanon." - Anxiety, night terrors - The Save the Children charity has warned of a severe strain on children s mental health as a result of the blast. "Without proper support, children might face long-term consequences," it said in a statement. Anne-Sophie Dybdal, the charity s senior child protection advisor, warned of "anxiety, trouble sleeping, attacks of night terror". "The impact on children can be very deep," she said. Child psychologist Sophia Maamari said traumatised children may also develop separation anxiety that could make them fear even going to the bathroom without one of their parents. Loud bangs may trigger fears of another blast and some children could go temporarily mute or tend toward self-isolation, the psychologist explained. Maamari advised that parents should make their children feel like they are allowed to be scared by telling them that they too were frightened by the explosion. This is one tip Noura picked up online when she was looking for information on how to handle her two traumatised children, aged three and four. The 34-year-old mother said she had described to her kids in detail how she was gripped by fear and panic. Her older son immediately responded to her admission by saying: "It was a big bam." Her youngest did not respond until the next day. "I was very scared too," she said the little boy whispered into her ear as soon as he woke up.

(Reuters) – As polls show Texans increasingly frustrated with President Donald Trump s response amid a massive resurgence in coronavirus cases, Democrats say they have a real chance to turn a long-held dream into reality: winning the state s presidential contest for the first time in more than four decades. In recent weeks, Joe Biden s campaign has aired television ads specifically aimed at Texans – the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has done so in a quarter-century, according to the state party – and made its first hires there. Texas is among the states targeted by a $280 million fall advertising blitz the campaign unveiled last week, part of a broader strategy aimed at putting Republican-leaning states, including Georgia, Iowa and Ohio, in play ahead of the Nov. 3 election against the Republican Trump. With polls showing Biden holding a national lead over Trump and effectively tied in Texas, Democrats say a concerted effort in the state could expand his viable paths to the White House. “Because of the pandemic, the battleground has grown,” said Democratic U.S. Representative Filemon Vela, who represents a south Texas seat. But skepticism remains about conservative Texas becoming a true swing state. Trump carried it by nine percentage points four years ago, and some strategists expect his standing to rebound as the election draws closer. Trump campaign spokeswoman Samantha Cotten said Democrats were “delusional” for thinking they can win Texas. “We welcome the Biden campaign to light their money on fire by investing in the Lone Star State,” she said in a statement. Texas is an expensive place to advertise on television given its size and multiple media markets, and Biden aides acknowledge the campaign is unlikely to spend the kind of vast sum a full-court press would require. At a fundraiser last week, Biden touted polls showing he is tied or ahead but said the money required to compete in Texas is a “major stretch.” If Biden wins Texas, it is virtually certain he will have already won enough other states to capture the presidency, suggesting the campaign s resources may be better spent in clear-cut swing states such as Pennsylvania or Florida. The stakes in Texas are enormous: Its 38 votes in the Electoral College, which determines the presidential winner, are second only to California in the quest for a 270-vote majority. Democratic officials argue even a modest investment could pay dividends by forcing Trump to divert money from other states, while benefiting down-ballot candidates. Democrats need to flip nine seats in the Texas state assembly to take control in 2021, when the state will redraw congressional district lines for the next decade. The state also has several hotly contested congressional campaigns as well as a potentially competitive Senate race. Democratic state officials, state lawmakers and congressional members have pressed their case with the Biden campaign, according to interviews with multiple officials. Many point to Democratic Senate candidate Beto O Rourke s unexpectedly strong finish in 2018, when he came within three percentage points of unseating Republican Ted Cruz. “There s real change happening here,” said U.S. Representative Colin Allred, a Democrat who flipped a Republican-held seat near Dallas two years ago. “I ve told them I think they should compete here.” SEIZING AN OPPORTUNITY In an interview, Biden s deputy states director, Molly Ritner, said the campaign s modest $65,000 ad buy in July was prompted by the spike in Texas coronavirus infections. “We basically saw an opportunity,” Ritner said. “We have put 17 states on the map, and on any given day, we are looking at that map and trying to preserve as many pathways to 270 as possible.” It may be a long shot for Biden, but some Republicans have sounded the alarm. Cruz told reporters on Air Force One in late July that weakening support for Trump in the suburbs has put Texas in play. Karen Perkins, 60, an Arlington resident, is a lifelong Republican but said Trump s handling of the pandemic has left her unsure of how to vote in November. “He just visited Texas, and he got off the plane without a mask,” she said of Trump. “I ve always said that I m very, very Republican, but he s starting to turn me away.” The Democrats odds in 2020 rely on a confluence of factors. In addition to the suburban shift, the state s Latino, Black and Asian populations – all of which vote heavily Democratic – have grown faster than the white population. Since 2016, more than 2 million Texans have registered to vote. A majority are minorities, and 1.6 million are under the age of 35, according to the state party. “It s a perfect storm of demographic change and suburban change all at once,” said Jessica Post, director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which aids statehouse candidates. If Biden s appeal as a moderate can reduce Trump s margins in rural areas, Democrats said, his advantage in urban and suburban districts could carry him across the finish line. Turnout, particularly among minority voters, will be key. Using data lists, the state party has targeted hundreds of thousands of people who have moved to Texas from Democratic states but have yet to register. Meanwhile, the party s Latinx outreach team is distributing online toolkits to help Hispanic voters register their friends and family. Texas does not have partisan voter registration. But the trends prove Texas Democratic transformation is inevitable, if it hasn t happened already, according to Manny Garcia, the state party s executive director. “Texas is not in play because a dramatic number of Republicans are … coming over to the Democratic Party,” Garcia said. “Texas is in play because there are more of us than there are of them.”

EDMINSTER, N.J. (Reuters) – President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Saturday partly restoring enhanced unemployment payments to the tens of millions of Americans who lost jobs in the coronavirus pandemic, as the United States marked a grim milestone of five million cases. Negotiations broke down this week between the White House and top Democrats in Congress over how best to help Americans cope with the heavy human and economic toll of the crisis, which has killed more than 160,000 people across the country. Trump said the orders would provide an extra $400 per week in unemployment payments, less than the $600 per week passed earlier in the crisis. Some of the measures were likely to face legal challenges, as the US Constitution gives Congress authority over federal spending. “This is the money they need, this is the money they want, this gives them an incentive to go back to work,” the Republican president said of the lower payments. He said 25 percent of it would be paid by states, whose budgets have been hard hit by the crisis. Republicans have argued that higher payments were a disincentive for unemployed Americans to try to return to work, though economists, including Federal Reserve officials, disputed that assertion. Trump s move to take relief measures out of the hands of Congress drew immediate criticism from some Democrats. “Donald Trump is trying to distract from his failure to extend the $600 federal boost for 30 million unemployed workers by issuing illegal executive orders,” said Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. “This scheme is a classic Donald Trump con: playacting at leadership while robbing people of the support they desperately need.” The Democratic-majority House of Representatives passed a coronavirus support package in May which the Republican-led Senate ignored. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden called the orders a “series of half-baked measures” and accused Trump of putting Social Security “at grave risk” by delaying the collection of payroll taxes that pay for the program. Trump also said he was suspending collection of payroll taxes, which pay for Social Security and other federal programs, an idea that he has repeatedly raised but has been rejected by both parties in Congress. He said the suspension would apply to people making less than $100,000 per year. His orders would also stop evictions from rental housing that has federal financial backing and extend zero percent interest on federally financed student loans. Trump initially played down the disease s threat and has drawn criticism for inconsistent messages on public health steps such as social distancing and masks. He spoke to reporters on Saturday at his New Jersey golf club, in a room that featured a crowd of cheering supporters. FAR APART Nearly two weeks of talks between White House officials and congressional Democrats ended on Friday with the two sides still about $2 trillion apart. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had pushed to extend the enhanced unemployment payments, which expired at the end of July, at the previous rate of $600 as well as to provide more financial support for city and state governments battered by the crisis. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday offered to reduce the $3.4 trillion coronavirus aid package that the House passed in May by nearly a third if Republicans would agree to more than double their $1 trillion counteroffer. White House negotiators Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows rejected the offer. The $1 trillion package that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled late last month ran into immediate opposition from his own party, with as many as 20 of the Senate s 53 Republicans expected to oppose it. Trump did not rule out a return to negotiations with Congress. “I m not saying they re not going to come back and negotiate,” he said on Saturday. “Hopefully, we can do something with them at a later date.” Democrats have already warned that such executive orders are legally dubious and would likely be challenged in court, but a court fight could take months. Trump has managed to sidestep Congress on spending before, declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border to shift billions of dollars from the defense budget to pay for a wall he promised during his 2016 election campaign. Congress passed legislation to stop him, but there were too few votes in the Republican-controlled Senate to override his veto – a scenario that would likely play out again with less than 90 days to go before the Nov. 3 presidential election.