Category: ESTA News

President Joe Biden became the first sitting president to visit the Amazon rainforest on the 17^th November 2024.

After attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru, President Biden boarded Air Force One and traveled to Manaus, Amazonas, before attending the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on the 18th and 19th.He flew over the Amazon aboard Marine One helicopter to inspect the low water levels and wetland fire damage in the Amazon River area, and toured wildlife refuges, the Associated Press reported.

The flight was accompanied by Dr. Carlos Noubri, an Amazon ecology expert from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize), and John Podesta, the presidential envoy for climate.

President Biden then met with Indigenous leaders and visited the Amazon Museum to confirm the U.S. government’s commitment to conserving the rainforest, AP reported. In an explanatory statement released on its website that day, the White House explained, “President Biden will fulfill his historic pledge to increase the amount of international funding for climate change response by more than $11 billion annually by this year, making the U.S. the world’s largest bilateral climate finance donor.”

The U.S. government also announced that it would contribute an additional $50 million to the Amazon Fund, adding to the existing $50 million. The budget will be finalized after congressional approval, AP reported. The White House added that President Biden will also sign a document designating November 17 as “International Conservation Day” every year, with the meaning of protecting the livelihoods of those who depend on nature, preserving ecosystems, and ensuring that future generations can fully enjoy our natural heritage.

The launch of the ‘Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition’, which will promote $10 billion in public and private investment for land restoration and bioeconomy projects by 2030, as well as $37.5 million in loans for Amazon reforestation projects and technical cooperation for monitoring illegal logging, were also promised. However, the continuity of the U.S. government’s related policy implementation is unclear.

President-elect Donald Trump has denied the climate crisis theory as a “hoax,” disparaged renewable energy, and advocated unlimited fossil fuel production. President-elect Trump’s approach to the environment is also partially revealed in his cabinet appointments. The day before, President-elect Trump nominated Chris Wright, founder, and CEO of Liberty Energy, as Secretary of Energy.

The Washington Post (WP) and other sources reported that Wright, who denies the climate crisis including global warming, has often expressed skeptical views on climate change, and has caught President-elect Trump’s attention.

Former Brazilian Environment Agency Director Sueli Araujo told the AP that “President Biden’s visit to the Amazon is important as a personal expression of will, but in cases like this, it seems difficult to expect concrete results,” expressing concerns that the new U.S. administration may not donate “a single penny” to the Amazon fund.

A wildfire broke out in the Palisades Bluffs Forest near Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on the night of the 7th, burning more than 32 acres.

The New Jersey Forest Service announced on social media at around 7:30 a.m. on the 8th, “A wildfire broke out in the forest near the Palisades Interstate Parkway near Englewood Cliffs and as of 2:30 p.m. on the 8th, had spread to 39 acres and was about 30% contained.”

The Forest Service added that the wildfire was unlikely to spread further, and that no homes or buildings were damaged, and no people needed to be evacuated. The Forest Service used helicopters to spray 350 gallons of water and worked all day to suppress the fire.

Some roads, including Henry Hudson Drive, which runs through the forest, were closed for suppression work, and some lanes of the Palisades Interstate Parkway, which runs from the George Washington Bridge through northern New Jersey to Bear Mountain in New York, were closed for a while and then lifted.

The cause of this wildfire is still under investigation, but the dry weather that has continued for over a month is believed to be one of the factors.

With former President Donald Trump’s re-election, attention is being paid to whether First Lady Melania Trump, who has returned to the White House, will be more active than before.

When First Lady Melania Trump posted on social media on the 6th, the day after the 47th presidential election in which former President Trump won, there were predictions that she would take a different approach than during Trump’s first term.

On her X (formerly Twitter) account, First Lady Melania Trump wrote, “The vast majority of Americans have entrusted us with this important responsibility,” and “We will defend the freedoms that are the heart of our republic. I look forward to our citizens once again transcending ideology and joining in a commitment to each other for individual freedom, economic prosperity, and security.”

The message was short, but the BBC interpreted it on the 9th as suggesting that he would change the role of the first lady during his second term.

During Trump’s first term, Melania Trump was different from other first ladies in that she kept her mouth shut and rarely appeared in public, not only during the campaign period but also after entering the White House. This earned her the nickname of “the reclusive first lady.”

Even after former President Trump took office, she did not enter the White House right away but stayed in New York to educate her son. Melania Trump has also rarely appeared during this presidential campaign. At the Republican National Convention in July, Melania Trump did not give a separate stage speech, breaking the tradition of having the spouse of a presidential candidate join her on stage to speak. However, when she had to speak publicly, she was evaluated to have given hints about her views with carefully chosen words.

At a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York last month, Melania Trump described New York as a “great metropolis” and said, “This city has produced the world’s bravest leaders for generations, and their achievements have changed the course of the world.”

After the first assassination attempt on her husband in July, she called the perpetrator a “monster” and called for unity, and in a later interview with Fox News she criticized “opposition party and mainstream media leaders for fanning the flames of this toxic atmosphere.”

In her recently published memoir, Melania Trump said, “I have a strong sense of duty to use my position as First Lady for good.” In addition, the BBC reported that in a 1999 interview, her then-boyfriend, former President Trump, said that if he were to run for president, he would choose Jacqueline Kennedy and Betty Ford as role models, saying that they were “very traditional.”

Kennedy was a fashion icon, and Ford was considered a pioneer in advocating abortion rights and women’s rights. It is still unclear how Melania will perform her role as the second First Lady and whether she will enter the White House at the same time as President-elect Trump. However, her past and recent statements suggest that she will take a more active approach.

Tammy Vigil, an associate professor at Boston University who wrote a book about Melania and Michelle Obama, said that Melania “is a rare case among modern first ladies,” saying, “She does things the way she wants to do them, not the way she has to. And yet she meets basic expectations.”

Professor Vigil said the role of the first lady has changed over the years and predicted that Melania will “choose how much she wants to be in the public eye.”

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, visited Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, two days before the election, and harshly criticized the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration for its failures in economic, immigration, and foreign policies, emphasizing the “Harris judgment.”

Having denied the results of the 2020 presidential election, he once again raised the possibility of fraud in this election, saying that he “should never have left the White House” when his first term ended. He also emphasized that he would “fix corrupt America,” saying that a poll showing Vice President Harris ahead in Iowa, a Republican-strong state, was distorted.

Former President Trump said at an outdoor rally in Ritz, Pennsylvania, on the same day, “This election is a choice between four more years of incompetence and failure, or the greatest four years in American history,” adding, “Kamala ruined the American dream, and we’re going to fix it fast.” He continued, “If you don’t vote, you’re stupid,” and, “Kamala Harris has created nothing but economic hell for American workers for four years,” criticizing economic performance such as inflation.

Regarding the October employment statistics released on the 1st, which showed the lowest increase in new U.S. jobs in about four years, he claimed, “This is the worst jobs statistics in modern history,” and “This is a depression.” Former President Trump criticized the response to the illegal immigration issue, saying, “The day I left the White House, we had the best border,” and “Frankly, I should not have left (the White House).”

Former President Trump previously claimed election fraud despite losing the 2020 presidential election, and he told an aide at the time, “How can you leave when you won the election?”, implying that he would remain in the White House. He also once again claimed that he received a huge amount of money from NATO while in office, saying, “If you don’t pay us, we will not protect your country from Russia under any circumstances.”

Regarding a poll that showed him losing to Vice President Harris by 3 percentage points in Iowa, a Republican stronghold, former President Trump said that another polling agency was wrong, saying, “They polled more Democrats than Republicans,” and criticized, “Why did they release a poll that was so biased toward the Democrats?” He then declared, “I’m going to fix corrupt America.” Regarding the presidential election, he said, “They’re fighting really hard to steal this damn thing.” “Look at your state. They’re talking about extending the voting hours and stuff. We should just vote on paper ballots for one day.” He said the ballots are sophisticated with watermarks and other things, saying, “This is more religious than a voting machine that can be hacked.” He also said that a law has been signed in California that prohibits voter ID requirements, saying, “They’re doing this because they want to commit fraud.” He called the Democratic Party a “corrupt machine/party” and an “evil party,” and said, “The election should be concluded between 9 and 11 p.m. on Tuesday (Election Day).”

Former President Trump, who has been criticizing the mainstream media in the United States as “fake news,” pointed to the bulletproof glass panels surrounding him and said, “If someone wants to shoot at me, they have to go through the fake news (in front of me) and shoot, but I don’t really care.” After Pennsylvania (19 electoral votes), former President Trump is scheduled to campaign in North Carolina (16 electoral votes) and Georgia (16 electoral votes).

These three states have many electoral votes among the seven battleground states, so if former President Trump wins these three states, he could win the presidential election. However, in Pennsylvania, he is virtually tied with Vice President Harris, and in Georgia and North Carolina, which are in the so-called Sun Belt (areas with a lot of sunlight south of the 37th parallel north), there are opinion polls showing Vice President Harris slightly strengthening his support at the last minute, although within the margin of error.

The number of users of Threads, which was launched targeting social media (SNS) X (formerly Twitter), is chasing X.

According to the economic media outlet CNBC on the 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platform (hereinafter referred to as Meta), announced that Thread’s monthly active users (MAU) reached 275 million as of the third quarter. This is a 175% increase from a year ago, and an increase of 100 million in just three months from 175 million in the second quarter.

“We’re currently adding over 1 million new users every day,” Zuckerberg said. “We’re continuing to work on making this the next major social app.”

Chief Financial Officer Susan Lee said, “We don’t currently believe Threads will be a meaningful revenue driver in 2025,” but added, “We’re pleased with our growth trajectory and are focused on introducing features that our community finds valuable.”

As Threads’ users grow, it has narrowed the gap with X. According to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Elon Musk’s X has about 310 million monthly active users, down 24% since Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022. The text-based Threads feature was launched for X in July of last year. It became a sensation, surpassing 100 million subscribers in just five days.

Zuckerberg has taken advantage of the loss of X users and advertisers following the Musk acquisition, amid controversies including mass layoffs and anti-Semitic comments.

Before and after the launch of the thread, Zuckerberg and Musk had a war of words over ‘real-life fights’, drawing attention to a real fight between the world’s richest men. However, there has been no sign of them facing each other in a real-life fighting cage.

With the presidential election just 9 days away on the 27th, nationwide opinion polls continue to show that Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump are locked in a close race within the margin of error. However, while an ABC poll showed Vice President Harris widening the gap with former President Trump somewhat, a CBS poll showed the gap narrowing, indicating that the race is continuing to be unpredictable.

According to an ABC poll conducted with Ipsos from the 18th to the 22nd of 2,808 adults nationwide and released today, Vice President Harris received 49% support among registered voters, while former President Trump received 47% support. Among likely voters (with a margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points), Harris had a slight lead over Trump, with 51%, compared to 47% for Trump.

This figure is an increase from the 2-percentage point gap in the previous survey earlier this month (Harris 50%, Trump 48%). Harris had an edge among women (+14 percentage points), blacks (+83 percentage points), Hispanics (+30 percentage points), and college graduates (+22 percentage points), while Trump had an edge among men (+6 percentage points), whites (+11 percentage points), and those with a high school diploma or less (+11 percentage points).

In this survey, Harris showed a significant lead among black voters, a group that had been considered weaker than other Democratic candidates, such as President Joe Biden. For example, Vice President Harris surpassed former President Trump not only among black women (+88 percentage points) but also men (+74 percentage points), which is a higher margin than President Biden’s margin in the 2020 exit polls (black men +60 percentage points, women +81 percentage points). However, among Hispanics, Vice President Harris secured a similar gap in support over former President Trump in the 2020 exit polls among male voters, but the gap narrowed among female voters (+39 percentage points → +32 percentage points).

In a poll conducted by CBS and YouGov from the 23rd to the 25th of 2,161 registered voters nationwide and released today, 50% of respondents (margin of error ±2.6 percentage points) who intended to vote said they would choose Vice President Harris, while 49% said they would choose former President Trump. Vice President Harris had a 4-point lead over former President Trump nationally after the September debate, but that has now narrowed to 1 point, CBS reported. In a poll targeting voters living in swing states, Vice President Harris and former President Trump were tied at 50%.

The outlet reported that Vice President Harris had a 3%-point lead in swing states in September, but two weeks ago, it had dropped to 1% and the same number this time. The CBS poll also confirmed that economic issues significantly supported former President Trump.

When asked which candidate’s economic policies would be more financially helpful, 30% chose Vice President Harris and 44% chose former President Trump.

A major daily newspaper in Los Angeles (LA), the hometown and political stronghold of Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, has withdrawn its plan to endorse her, causing a storm.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 26th, ten days before the presidential election, that the local daily LA Times had planned to endorse Vice President Harris at the editorial level but had withdrawn its plan entirely due to opposition from the family of its owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. The LA Times has been a representative Democratic-leaning media outlet in California, a traditionally progressive state, for generations.

The New York Times reported that there was strong internal and external opposition after the Saju family’s veto of the endorsement declaration, saying, “Vice President Harris, a California native and LA resident, was not only the only candidate who had internal support from the editorial board, but also an important bulwark against Republican candidate Donald Trump.”

In fact, after the withdrawal of the endorsement declaration plan, thousands of readers stopped subscribing to the LA Times, and three executives on the editorial board resigned.

Nearly 200 employees have signed an open petition demanding an explanation for the decision made so close to the presidential election. There are conflicting explanations within the Saju family regarding the decision.

Owner Dr. Soon-Shiong maintains that it was a decision made in the interest of neutrality. On the other hand, his daughter, Nika Soon-Shiong, a 31-year-old progressive activist, made a surprise statement that she could not declare her endorsement because of the Democratic Party and Vice President Harris’s support for the Middle East war. “This is the first and only decision I have ever been involved in,” Nika Soon-Shiong said in a statement to the Times. “As someone who came from a family that lived through apartheid in South Africa, it was an opportunity for me to express my rejection of a war that targets children and journalists.”

Dr. Soon-Shiong explained that her position had nothing to do with the LA Times. The successful bio entrepreneur acquired the LA Times for $500 million in 2018 and has been in frequent conflict with the editorial staff over editorial direction. The Hill, a political media outlet, reported that not only the LA Times but also many other media outlets, including the Washington Post (WP), are holding off on declaring their support for candidates amid the extremely close race.

American media outlets with distinct political leanings have traditionally declared their support for candidates who align with their ideology between the Democratic and Republican candidates when the presidential election approaches. However, the WP, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, broke its long-standing practice of supporting Democratic candidates and announced that it would not support a specific candidate this year.

Voices criticizing Bezos’ decision are continuing within the newspaper. So far, among major American media outlets, the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, New Yorker, Boston Globe, and Houston Chronicle have expressed their support for Vice President Harris. The New York Post, Washington Times, and Las Vegas Review-Journal have supported former President Trump.

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris appealed to black voters, a key Democratic base, on the 20th in the southern battleground state of Georgia, using her Christian faith to appeal to them. Vice President Harris attended a service at a large black church in Stonecrest, Georgia.

Harris cited the story of the Good Samaritan, who saved a man who had been robbed and lying on the side of the road, and said, “It teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves.” Although she did not mention former President Donald Trump by name, she pointed out that “at this moment, there are those across our country who are trying to deepen division, spread hate, incite fear, and create confusion.” “Our country is at a crossroads at this moment, and it’s up to us as Americans and as people of faith to decide where we go from here,” he said, urging voters to decide with their vote whether America will be a country of confusion, fear, and hate, or a country of freedom, compassion, and justice.

The day was Vice President Harris’s 60th birthday, and churchgoers sang Happy Birthday.

Vice President Harris then visited a church in Jonesboro, Georgia, and taped an interview with civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton for MSNBC. At the Jonesboro church, she also emphasized the importance of “faith in action,” and mentioned former President Jimmy Carter, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, voting by mail. “If he can vote, everyone can vote,” she said. “If you don’t vote, nothing (change) is going to happen.”

Stevie Wonder was there to sing a happy birthday song to Vice President Harris and warn of the dangers of a Republican victory in the upcoming election, the White House press pool reported. The Harris campaign is rolling out a nationwide campaign called “Souls to the Polls” to encourage black voters to vote, according to the Associated Press. The campaign is being led by an advisory committee of black religious leaders from around the country.

The AP explained that black churches have been working to expand black voter turnout since the days of racial discrimination and white supremacist suppression of black suffrage. Vice Presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will also visit a church in Saginaw, Michigan, a key battleground, on the same day, and Walz’s wife Gwen will attend a service in Las Vegas, Nevada.

NBC News reported that Vice President Harris has been appealing to black Christian supporters but has not highlighted her faith as much as President Joe Biden, a Catholic, or former President Barack Obama, a Protestant. NBC News assessed that in 2007, when former President Obama was preparing to run for president, only 16% of Americans were non-religious, but that number has now increased to 28%, reducing the incentive to show religious color in elections. It also explained that Vice President Harris attends a Baptist church, but was influenced by Hinduism from her mother, and her husband Doug Emhoff is Jewish, so her religious background is not simple.

In the extremely close race, Vice President Harris is trying to embrace various religions and ethnicities. On this day, Korean American Representative Marilyn Strickland (Democrat, Washington) met with Korean American Asian Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters in Atlanta, Georgia, along with Korean American Representative Sam Park of Georgia, and appealed for support for Vice President Harris.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that on this day, Harris’s presidential campaign made the issue of age an issue, emphasizing that her rival, former President Trump, is 18 years older than Harris, in celebration of Vice President Harris’s 60th birthday.

In the final stages of their campaign, Vice President Harris’s camp is emphasizing that former President Trump, who is 78 years old this year and would become the oldest president in history if he wins the election, is mentally and physically unfit to be president.

Vice President Harris said at a rally in Michigan, a battleground state, the previous day that “he (Trump) is becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged,” and that “the American people deserve someone better than someone who seems unstable.” This “age-based issue strategy” was used by former President Trump’s side to target President Joe Biden, who was virtually confirmed as the Democratic presidential candidate at 81 years old this year but gave up his reelection bid in July, and Vice President Harris’s side is using this strategy against him.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, visited McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, on the 20th.

The former President Trump, who is from a so-called “golden spoon” family and has a fortune in the trillions of won, visited McDonald’s, a symbol of American restaurants, and it is interpreted that he is a candidate who is truly pro-people, in contrast to his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, who worked part-time at McDonald’s in the past.

Former President Trump has previously claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris’s statement about working part-time at McDonald’s in college is a lie, without any basis. Former President Trump visited a McDonald’s store in Feasterville-Travers, Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of the same day, the Associated Press and the New York Times reported. Former President Trump, who took off his suit jacket and wore an apron, made French fries behind the counter and took orders directly at the drive thru. He also waved at people standing across the street from the window where he took orders at the drive thru.

A customer waiting at the drive-thru even shouted, “Trump 2024,” the Washington Post reported. Former President Trump told the press, “I’m enjoying (working) here,” and “This job requires great expertise.” McDonald’s, a hamburger chain, is a symbol of American common people’s culture in terms of food and part-time jobs. The company said that one in eight Americans has worked at McDonald’s in their lifetime, and that former President Trump also asked McDonald’s to visit a McDonald’s store for the same reason.

As soon as former President Trump arrived in Pennsylvania, he told the press, “I’m going to McDonald’s to get a job,” and “I’ve wanted to do this my whole life.” The American media is reporting that former President Trump’s visit to McDonald’s was intended to create a clear confrontation with Vice President Harris. Vice President Harris, who had been highlighting her experience working part-time at McDonald’s during her college years immediately after her candidacy in July, has been promoting herself as a candidate for the working class and the middle class.

In response, former President Trump has repeatedly claimed at campaign rallies that “Harris lied about working at McDonald’s,” but has not provided any specific evidence. In a post on his social media that day, former President Trump said, “We checked with McDonald’s, and they said there is no record of ‘liar’ Harris ever working there,” and “She never worked there.” In the post he made before visiting the McDonald’s store, he claimed, “If I stay there for 20 minutes, I’ve worked there for 20 minutes longer than Harris.”

Meanwhile, former President Trump met with reporters in Pennsylvania that day and said about the phone call he had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “It was a very good phone call.” He continued, “He asked me what I thought, and I said, ‘Do what you have to do,'” Reuters reported. Former President Trump said, “He (Prime Minister Netanyahu) got very little cooperation from the White House,” and “They (the Biden administration) didn’t want him to do anything. If he had listened to them, he wouldn’t be in the good position he is in now.”

Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that Prime Minister Netanyahu had spoken with former President Trump that day.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced on the 13th that it would additionally deploy THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) batteries and related U.S. military personnel to Israel.

In a statement released that day, Department of Defense spokesman Pat Ryder said, “At the direction of the President, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approved the deployment.” He continued, “This action underscores the ironclad commitment of the United States to defend Israel from additional ballistic missile attacks by Iran and to protect Americans in Israel.” “This action is part of a broader set of measures taken by the U.S. military in recent months to support Israel’s defense and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iran-linked militias,” Ryder added.

Iran retaliated by launching a barrage of ballistic missiles against Israel on April 13 and October 1. During the April attack, 99 percent of the missiles were intercepted by Israel’s multi-layered missile defense system known as the Iron Dome, causing little damage. However, there have been claims that up to 32 of the missiles fired by Iran during the October attack fell on roads near the Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel, exposing some vulnerabilities.

U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of THAAD batteries after the Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 last year, which triggered the Gaza War.

The U.S. military also deployed THAAD to Israel in 2019 for integrated air defense training.