In Peru, Pope Leo XIV is fondly remembered in Chiclayo, his former diocese
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San Francisco Chronicle
24 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Some Democrats want new leadership. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden says he has what it takes to resist Trump
WASCO, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is in his fifth decade in Congress and showing no inclination to step aside even as pressure builds on aging Democratic officeholders to give way to a new generation. He says he plans to seek another term in 2028, when he will be 79 years old. He has traveled to all 36 Oregon counties every year he has been in the Senate and intends to keep doing so. After a recent town hall in Wasco in conservative Sherman County, Wyden said questions about age are 'fair game for debate' but that he is still up to the job and the fight against Republican President Donald Trump's policies. 'I believe you ought to be held accountable,' he told The Associated Press in an interview. 'But I think that the Founding Fathers wanted a results-oriented, commonsense approach to government, and that's what I'm trying to do. And I've got the energy.' Calls for a new generation of leaders Many Democrats have lingering anguish about Joe Biden's decision to seek a second White House term despite persistent concerns about whether he was up to the job at age 81. He dropped out in July 2024 and Trump went on to defeat then-Vice President Kamala Harris. 'I've consistently called for all elected officials over the age of 70 to make this their final term — to step down with dignity and make room for the next generation of leaders," said Amanda Litman, co-founder and president of Run for Something, a group that supports progressive young candidates. Many Democrats feel Biden stepped withdrew too late and cost the party the presidency. Multiple Democratic senators have announced this year that they won't seek reelection, including 80-year-old Dick Durbin of Illinois. Durbin's career in Congress began in 1983, two years after Wyden joined the House. Litman said she hopes another Democrat emerges to challenge Wyden. 'I think competitive primaries in particular are how we as a party decide what we believe,' she said. 'Every Oregonian counts' Wyden continues to travel across his state engaging with voters of all political stripes. The Wasco town hall was the 23rd he has held this year, and the 1,125th town hall of his career. Some 20 people gathered at a former grade school nestled among wheat fields and wind turbines. 'Every Oregonian counts, no matter where they live,' Wyden told them. As other Democrats grapple over strategy, the senator says the old-school town hall tradition has become a key communication tool in an era of deepening division. 'I believe the town meetings are more important now than ever, because they allow for an opportunity in a community to chip away at some of the polarization and the mistrust,' he told the AP. That stands in contrast to congressional Republicans, who in recent months have largely avoided town hall meetings, where they often face protesters. The National Republican Campaign Committee recently encouraged GOP lawmakers to promote the new tax breaks and spending cuts law, but in smaller settings they can control. A civil exchange Some 75% of Sherman County's voters cast ballots for Trump last November, and Wyden hasn't carried the county of about 2,000 people since 2004. Yet the small town hall gathering stood out for its civility, compared with the raucous crowds faced recently by other members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. Meeting with a small group of Democrats, Republicans and independents in Wasco, Wyden talked at length about health care, trade and democracy. While some pressed Wyden, they waited to be called on and thanked him for coming. Charlie Hogue, 71, asked a question that went to the heart of Democratic concerns that leaders aren't pushing back hard enough against Trump. 'I thought we had checks and balances in this country, and I'm beginning to lose hope because the current administration ignores court orders,' he said. 'So are the Democrats planning to just message for the next elections … or do you have a plan?' Wyden cited examples of how he had challenged Trump: a recent trip to Canada, where the senator spoke with the prime minister about trade, and discussions with Oregon wheat farmers about tariffs. T.L. Fassbender, 76, wondered why it seems that Democrats support immigrants who entered the country illegally. Wyden responded that he believed the immigration system was 'broken' and noted that a bipartisan border bill collapsed in the Senate last year after then-candidate Trump came out against it. In the ensuing exchange, Fassbender said he didn't think Wyden had answered his question, so the senator tried again. 'If somebody has committed a crime, for example, I don't think that should be something that is protected as part of legislation,' Wyden said. 'What's been going on, unfortunately, is we have some government agencies coming and swooping up people who've done nothing wrong.' When immigration came up again later, Wyden noted that his parents were fleeing Nazi Germany when they came to the United States. 'I believe that legal immigration makes our country better and stronger,' he said. Pursuing the Epstein records Recently, Wyden has emerged as a leading Democratic voice in pressing for more information on the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case. He isn't new to the effort, which has become a political crisis for Trump. The president's supporters are angry that his administration didn't keep promises to release records from the investigation into the wealthy financier's exploitation of underage girls for sex. The Justice Department and FBI recently said there was no Epstein 'client list,' walking back a notion that the administration had previously promoted. As the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, Wyden had been pressing for Epstein's financial records long before the scandal resurfaced. 'We spent three years following the money,' he told the AP after the Wasco town hall. 'And we're going to stay at it until the facts come out.' 'The old saying is, 'most of life is just showing up,'' he said. 'But it's especially important in government because there is a sense that this is rigged.'
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Rwanda-backed rebels have killed at least 80 civilians in recent weeks, Congolese authorities say
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Rwanda-backed rebels have killed at least 80 people in eastern Congo in recent weeks, Congolese authorities said, despite the ongoing Qatar-led peace process aiming to end the conflict. The army said in a statement late Friday that it is 'fiercely condemning a series of mass murders of civilians by the RDF/M23-AFC coalition" in South Kivu, including of 80 people on Aug. 4 in the village of Nyaborongo, and of six civilians, including two minors, on July 24 in the village of Lumbishi. 'In addition to this excessive criminality, the M23/AFC is engaged in the forced recruitment of young people, including minors, to join their illegal organization,' the statement said. The continuing violence could threaten Qatar-led efforts to get Congo and the rebels to sign a permanent peace deal by the goal of Aug. 18. One of the deal's conditions is the protection of civilians and safe return of millions of people displaced by the conflict. There was no immediate comment from M23. Earlier this month, the the U.N. human rights chief said that M23 killed 319 people over the past month in a different part of the region, describing the toll as one of the largest documented in such attacks since the M23 rebels resurfaced in 2022. Citing firsthand accounts, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement that the rebels, backed by members of the Rwandan Defense Force, targeted four villages in North Kivu province's Rutshuru territory between July 9 and July 21. M23 denied the accusations and called the U.N. statement 'unverified and politically motivated.' 'These allegations constitute a blatant manipulation of the facts, a violation of basic principles of impartiality, and a serious attack on the credibility of U.N. institutions,' said Lawrence Kanyuka, the spokesperson for the Congo River Alliance, an umbrella organization which includes M23. 'We call for the opening of an independent investigation and hope that the organizations that published this report can participate in it.' The M23 earlier this year seized two key cities in eastern Congo, in a major escalation with the help of neighboring Rwandan forces. Congo has long been wracked by deadly conflict in its mineral-rich east, with more than 100 armed groups active. The two sides on July 19 signed a declaration of principles in Qatar to end the fighting and commit to a comprehensive peace agreement that would include the restoration of state authorities in key eastern cities controlled by the insurgents.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Zelenskyy rejects formally ceding Ukrainian territory, says Kyiv must be part of any negotiations
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Saturday the planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that any peace deal excluding Kyiv would lead to 'dead solutions.' The Trump-Putin meeting, scheduled for Friday in Alaska, is seen as a potential breakthrough. Trump had previously agreed to meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with Zelenskyy, stoking fears Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent's biggest conflict since World War II. In a statement posted to Telegram, Zelenskyy said Ukraine's territorial integrity, enshrined in the constitution, must be non-negotiable and emphasized that lasting peace must include Ukraine's voice at the table. Zelenskyy said Ukraine 'will not give Russia any awards for what it has done' and that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.' Touching on Ukrainian anxieties that a direct meeting between Putin and Trump could marginalize Kyiv and European interests, Zelenskyy said: 'Any solutions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time, solutions against peace. They will not bring anything. These are dead solutions, they will never work.' Ukrainian officials had previously told the Associated Press privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognize Ukraine's inability to regain lost territories militarily. 'It seems entirely logical for our delegation to fly across the Bering Strait simply, and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska,' Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Saturday in a statement posted to the Kremlin's news channel. Such a summit may prove pivotal in a war that began more than three years ago when Russia invaded its western neighbor and has led to tens of thousands of deaths, although there's no guarantee it will stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace. In comments to reporters at the White House before his post confirming the date and place, Trump suggested that any agreement would likely involve 'some swapping of territories,' but he gave no details. Analysts, including some close to the Kremlin, have suggested that Russia could offer to give up territory it controls outside of the four regions it claims to have annexed. Trump said his meeting with Putin would come before any sit-down discussion involving Zelenskyy. His announcement that he planned to host one of America's adversaries on U.S. soil broke with expectations that they'd meet in a third country. The gesture gives Putin validation after the U.S. and its allies had long sought to make him a pariah over his war against Ukraine. Ultimatums and sanctions Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump, almost two weeks ago, moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. The deadline was Friday. But the White House did not answer questions that evening about the state of possible sanctions after Trump announced an upcoming meeting with Putin. Prior to Trump announcing the meeting with Putin, his efforts to pressure Russia into stopping the fighting had delivered no progress. The Kremlin's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace.
