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The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Zohran Mamdani pledges to combat bigotry if elected NYC Mayor after MAGA spirals into ugly Islamophobia
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City Mayor, vowed to combat bigotry if he's elected after supporters of President Donald Trump 's Make America Great Again movement spread Islamophobic comments following his primary win. In an electoral upset, Mamdani, 33, who started his campaign as a little-known assemblyman from Queens, won the Democratic primary for mayor against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Tuesday night. Right-wing members of Trump's base spiraled following the win from Mamdani, who is a democratic socialist and has advocated against the Israeli government. Trump ally Laura Loomer, who is Jewish and has called herself a 'proud Islamophobe,' wrote on X Tuesday night, 'Muslims destroyed NYC on 9/11 and now a Muslim Communist is about to destroy the entire city for eternity.' Charlie Kirk, founder of pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA, wrote on X: '24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11. Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City.' Mamdani addressed the antisemitism that New Yorkers and Americans across the country are facing in the wake of Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and said he would ' root out bigotry across the five boroughs' during an interview with MSNBC's Jen Psaki Wednesday night. Mamdani mentioned conversations he's had with Jewish New Yorkers. 'I spoke to a Jewish man in Williamsburg not too many weeks ago who told me about the fact that he now locks the door that he used to keep open for years because of a fear of who may come in,' the mayoral nominee said. He continued: 'I spoke to a friend of mine after October 7th who told me about going to his synagogue for Shabbat services and hearing the door open behind him and turning around with a tremor, going up his back, not knowing who was walking in and what they wished for them.' Mamdani mentioned his proposal would create an 800 percent increase in funding for hate crime prevention programs, 'because ultimately we cannot simply say that antisemitism has no home in this city or no place in this country. We have to do more than talk about it. We have to tackle it, and that's what we will do through this funding and through this commitment, we will root out bigotry across the five boroughs.'
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Basketballer Khaman Maluach who feared being deported by Donald Trump gets picked in NBA Draft
A little over two months ago, Khaman Maluach feared he was going to be deported from the United States. Now, he's going to play in the NBA for millions of dollars with the Phoenix Suns. Maluach was born in South Sudan and on April 5, the day his Duke University lost to Florida Gators in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, Marco Rubio - Donald Trump 's Secretary of State - announced plans to revoke all visas for South Sudanese nationals. 'I am taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and to restrict any further issuance to prevent entry into the United States, effective immediately, due to the failure of South Sudan's transitional government to accept the return of its repatriated citizens in a timely manner,' Rubio wrote on X. Duke immediately looked into the status of Maluach, whose status appeared deeply uncertain. But he remained in the United States and according to CNN Sports, the 7ft 2 man is on a tourist visa at present but now he has been drafted by the Suns, he will be eligible to transfer onto a P1 visa. After being taken with the 10th pick by the Suns, he stands to sign a four-year deal with the franchise worth $27.4million. Remarkably, visa drama is not the only thing that may have stopped the 18-year-old Maluach reaching the NBA. He didn't even touch a basketball until he was 'around 13, 14' he says. 'I just went to a camp and saw a lot of tall people who were happy and I was like, "This is where I belong". He had fled Sudan to Uganda as a kid when, as a teenager, a stranger told him to try the sport. Maluach says he was stopped by a man on a motorcycle who said: 'Yo, you should start playing basketball. In three to four years, you'll be such a tall person.' After being picked by the Suns on Wednesday night, Maluach had to wipe away tears as he spoke to ESPN. 'Living in Africa, I had the whole continent on my back,' he said through his tears. 'I am here represening the whole continent, giving hopes to young kids, to the next generation of African basketball.' Maluach's teammate, Cooper Flagg, was the first pick in the draft in New York on the night itself by the Dallas Mavericks. While they are now set to become NBA rivals, Flagg waited backstage to see where his former college teammate was going to be picked. And as part of the trade that saw Kevin Durant traded by the Suns to the Rockets, Maluach will now start his career in Phoenix. Accroding to John Gambadoro, a Phoenix-based sports reporter, the Suns were equally thrilled and surprised that Maluach was still available by the time the 10th pick came around. Last season, the Suns missed the postseason playoffs with a disappointing 36-46 record that was only good enough for 11th in the Western Conference. It saw Mike Budenholzer fired as the team's head coach. He has since been replaced by Jordan Ott.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Jake Tapper unloads on Trump for 'ugly' attack on CNN over Iran bombing report
Jake Tapper defended CNN's reporting on Donald Trump 's strikes against Iran 's nuclear facilities, while ripping the president's 'ugly attack' on the press. The administration has rubbished reports by both CNN and the New York Times that the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities from Saturday night's bombing was not as severe as they had hoped, while simultaneously demanding the person who leaked incomplete intel be jailed. Tapper went off on Trump during his Wednesday show: 'Today, President Trump and his administration are going after shooting the messengers in an increasingly ugly way.' He also defended Natasha Bertrand, the CNN reporter who broke the story and whom Trump said should be fired. 'They're calling journalists 'fake news' for true stories. They're calling for an excellent CNN reporter, Natasha Bertrand, to be fired, which is preposterous — and to which a CNN statement today reads, 'we stand 100 percent behind Natasha Bertarnd's journalism, as they should,' he continued. The anchor added: 'The Trump administration is also accusing any news media who reports on this intel assessment as not being patriotic.' Tapper went into a dissection of CNN's reporting on the matter, saying that the Defense Intelligence Agency's assessment of the bombing was 'low confidence... meaning that the DIA is far from sure about it.' 'It was described to CNN by seven people briefed on the DIA assessment, and our reporting stressed that the assessment's conclusion could evolve as new information comes to light,' he said. Tapper claimed that CNN reached out to the White House before broadcasting the story and that the administration 'attacked the assessment but confirmed it exists.' 'Even President Trump himself today confirmed it,' he said. Tapper said he was not criticizing the troops who executed the strikes, saying they 'honor and respect' them. 'The key questions for the American people in the world are simply about the degree of success of the operation, and the current state of Iran's nuclear weapons program and what the intelligence — not the politicians — what the intelligence reveals,' Tapper said. 'Our obligation as journalists is not to praise President Trump, or protect his feelings, or to disparage him, or to praise him — for that matter. Our obligation is to report facts. In this case, the fact is that an initial DIA intel assessment out of Secretary Pete Hegseth's own Pentagon exists. And that's not going to change, no matter how many insults Trump levels.' As he ended the segment, he again pointed out that they 'don't know' whether their reporting or the administration's claims are accurate yet. 'That's the point of publishing what we know that the government learns, once we learn it. The news media needs to press for facts, even if it's uncomfortable. Even if, as Americans and as humans, there is a personal instinct to rally around the flag.' He finished: 'Asking questions is literally our job, demanding facts and answers, instead of just taking a president's word for it. History has taught us that the most pro-service member action we can take is to ask questions of our leaders, especially in times of war. That, for journalists, is the height of patriotism.' The leaked report from the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reportedly states that the U.S. strikes only delayed Iran from getting a nuclear weapon by a couple of months. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the FBI has taken the lead on conducting the probe after CNN, the New York Times and other outlets disclosed the report's findings. 'We're doing a leak investigation with the FBI right now, because this information is for internal purposes, battle damage assessments, and CNN and others are trying to spin it to make the president look bad,' he said during a NATO meeting alongside Trump and other top officials on Wednesday. The Pentagon chief defended the president like an attack dog, claiming the Fordow nuclear enrichment site was 'obliterated.' Flanked by Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Hegseth also mentioned how the classified document was only a preliminary assessment. 'It was a top secret report, it was preliminary, it was low confidence,' the Pentagon secretary explained. 'Given the 30,000 pounds of explosives and capability of those munitions, it was devastation underneath Fordow, and the amount of munitions, six per location, any assessment that tells you something otherwise is speculating with other motives.' He added that the preliminary DIA battle damage assessment indicated 'moderate to severe' damage was done to the facility. The administration, Hegseth continued, believes it was 'far more likely severe and obliterated.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was sitting next to Hegseth, argued the leakers had an agenda. 'This is what a leaker is telling you the intelligence says,' he said of the report. 'That's the game these people play. They read it and then they go out and characterize it the way they want it characterized.' He added it was 'against the law' to leak the information and told the media the leakers 'characterize it for you in a way that's absolutely false.' Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin similarly said Wednesday that "it is still early to assess the results of the operation.' Though he added, 'I believe we have delivered a significant hit to the nuclear program, and I can also say that we have delayed it by several years.' In a Truth Social post on Wednesday afternoon, Trump revealed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would address the public at 8am Thursday morning to provide 'both interesting and irrefutable' proof about the success of the mission. Trump said the purpose of the conference is to 'fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots. 'These Patriots were very upset,' he said. 'After 36 hours of dangerously flying through Enemy Territory, they landed, they knew the Success was LEGENDARY, and then, two days later, they started reading Fake News by CNN and The Failing New York Times. 'They felt terribly!' Trump reminded them that the doubts about the success of the mission were 'as usual, solely for the purpose of demeaning PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.' His comments come after the CIA confirmed Ira n's nuclear facilities suffered 'severe damage' after the devastating airstrikes Saturday night. Trump had earlier suggested Hegseth's title should be changed to the 'Secretary of War' given the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, and kicked off meetings at the NATO summit on Wednesday by comparing Saturday's precision airstrikes to the two atomic bombings on Japan that ended World War II. 'I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war,' he told reporters at The Hague. Seven B-2 bombers flew from the U.S. to Iran on Saturday to carry out what Pentagon officials have said is the most sophisticated stealth airstrike in decades. Each B-2 carried two 30,000 pound bunker buster bombs aimed at Fordow's nuclear labs hundreds of feet underground. The 14 bunker busters dropped on Fordow weighed a total of nearly 420,000 pounds combined, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell has said. 'Fake news, CNN and MSDNC, all of these terrible people, you know, they have no credibility,' Trump slammed the outlets reporting on the intel leak. 'The document said it could be very severe damage,' Trump said at Wednesday's NATO meeting. 'But they didn't take that.'
