Skip to main content

No catch for the day: Pakistan's tuna trade caught in US-Iran crossfire

In Iranian waters, a strange trade is taking place — Pakistani fishermen exchange subsidised Iranian fuel for high-value tuna, a barter system now under threat from escalating United States-Iran tensions. Shah Zamin Khan is among thousands of Pakistani tuna traders whose lucrative business has been at a near standstill since February, when the war between the US, Israel and Iran began. The recent targeting of Iranian seaports by Washington has made matters worse. Iran's southern ports of Konarak, Pasabandar and Beris, which border Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province and serve as key fish trade hubs, are among the sites targeted by US airstrikes in recent weeks. "Our businesses were already affected by the war but the recent targeting of Iranian seaports have turned the region into a no-go area for us over the past one month," Khan told Anadolu. Boat owners, according to Khan, have completely stopped sending their vessels to the Iranian ports fo...
Post a Comment

Trump opens up lead over Biden in rematch many Americans don't want

Donald Trump leads Democratic President Joe Biden by six percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that showed Americans are unhappy about an election rematch that came into sharper focus this week. The nationwide poll of 1,250 US adults showed Trump leading Biden 40% to 34% with the rest unsure or planning to vote for someone else or no one. The poll had a margin of error of three percentage points. That represented a gain for Trump after a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month showed him and Biden tied, though a nationwide survey does not capture the subtleties of the electoral college contest that will be decided this fall in just a handful of competitive states. As Trump handily beat his sole remaining primary challenger, Nikki Haley in New Hampshire on Tuesday, some 67% of respondents polled Monday through Wednesday said they were "tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new." Still, just 18% said they would not vote if Biden and Trump were their choice. "I hate to think that we're constantly navigating the lesser of two evils," said Kimberly Sofge, a 56-year-old project manager in Washington, D.C., this week. "I honestly feel that we can do better." The two candidates themselves seem ready for a rematch following Trump's back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, with the White House regarding Trump as a beatable challenger, and Trump fuming because Haley did not immediately drop out of the Republican race. Trump's six-point lead held even when respondents were given the option of voting for third-party candidates, including anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with Trump drawing 36% support, Biden 30% and Kennedy 8%. Slightly more than half of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the US two-party system, with just one in four satisfied by it. Whitney Tallarico, 33, a consultant interviewed in Washington, is among those considering an alternative. Read Trump cruises to New Hampshire win, Haley vows to fight on to South Carolina "The independents don't really have a voice. Polarizing characters usually take the front seat, and it's a little sad for our country," Tallarico said this week. Asked whether she would vote for Biden or Trump, she said, "I'll probably go for a third party." Age issue  Overall, the poll gave numerous signs that voters are not happy with their choices. Seventy percent of respondents - including about half of Democrats - agreed with a statement that Biden should not seek re-election. Fifty-six percent of people responding to the poll said Trump should not run, including about a third of Republicans. Biden has been weighed down by the widespread view that at 81, already the oldest person ever to be US president, he is too old for the job. Three-quarters of poll respondents agreed with a statement that Biden was too old to work in government, while half said the same about Trump, who at 77 would also be among the oldest US leaders ever if returned to the White House. Just over half of Democrats saw Biden as too old while a third of Republicans viewed Trump that way. Haley, 52, is trying to marshal dissatisfaction to turn around her well-financed but flagging campaign. "Most Americans do not want a rematch between Biden and Trump," she said on Tuesday after her loss to Trump in New Hampshire. "The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election." Read  Iowa caucus 2024: Trump cements frontrunner status to face Biden with record win The new poll showed Trump with a towering nationwide lead over Haley - 64% to 19% - as they prepare for the Feb. 24 Republican nomination contest in South Carolina, which Haley led as governor 2011-2017. Turnout could still be high in the November general election in part because voters from both parties are highly motivated to beat the other side. Fifty-nine percent of respondents who said they planned to vote for Biden said they were motivated primarily by opposition to Trump, while Trump voters were more positive about their candidate and his policies, with just 39% describing their vote as one against Biden. Anti-Trump sentiment helped Biden defeat Trump in the 2020 election, when a record-high share of eligible voters cast ballots. Another factor that could weigh on Trump: 55% of Republicans in the poll said he should be convicted and sentenced to prison if he broke the law. Trump, who is currently facing four criminal prosecutions, has argued in court that he should be immune to prosecution for actions taken while he was president. To be sure, most Republicans do not think he is guilty - only one in five Republican respondents said it was believable that Trump solicited election fraud, one of the key charges against him, and four out of five said his political opponents were abusing the legal system to derail his presidential bid.  

from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/1oY3Px0
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

A bridge collapsed at a cobalt mine in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least 32 wildcat miners, a regional government official said Sunday. The bridge came down Saturday onto a flooded zone at the mine in Lualaba province, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the provincial interior minister, told reporters. He said 32 bodies had been recovered and more were being searched for. The DRC produces more than 70 percent of the world supply of cobalt, which is essential for batteries used in electric cars, many laptop computers and mobile phones. More than 200,000 people are estimated to be working in giant illegal cobalt mines in the giant central African country. Local authorities said the bridge collapsed at the Kalando mine, about 42 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the Lualaba provincial capital, Kolwezi. "Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry," said Mayonde. He said ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity. The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Read BJP-promised temple transforms Ayodhya: Muslims, locals feel neglected The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arab countries, Pakistan likely to observe Eid on same day

The International Astronomy Centre confirmed on Wednesday that the crescent moon of Shawwal will be impossible to sight on Saturday, March 29, across all regions of the Arab and Islamic world. This is due to the moon setting before the sun, with the conjunction occurring after sunset. As a result, observing the crescent moon, whether by the naked eye, telescopes, or other means, will be unfeasible on March 29. For countries requiring an actual sighting to mark the start of Shawwal, Ramadan will likely extend to 30 days, with Eid Al Fitr falling on Monday, March 31. However, in some regions where the conjunction occurs before sunset, allowing the moon to set after sunset, some countries may choose to declare Eid on Sunday, March 30, following traditional moon-sighting practices. Notably, a partial solar eclipse will be visible at noon on Saturday in parts of the western Arab world, including Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. This event serves as definitive proof that the cresce...
Post a Comment
Read more