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Like Obama, History Favours Kamala Harris To Be US First Female President, By Emeka Monye

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▪︎Photograp by Steve Marcus /Las Vegas Sun/ AP

In a couple of hours, specifically on Tuesday,  November 5th, Americans, both home and abroad, will be going to the polls – popular and collegiate – to vote for their next president.

The world’s most popular democracy will be the cynosure of global attention for many reasons such as foreign policy, the war in the middle east, abortion, trade, immigration, gun control, among other contending factors.

The election also will be offering global observers with a retinue of the first, such that it will be the first time a particular former president will be contesting the office with women, at two different occasions.

Donald Trump, the presidential candidate of the Republican Party first contested against former first Lady, Hilary Clinton in 2016 and the second time he is coming out again, he is contesting against the first black female candidate of the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris is a black American, from a mixed parentage – A Jamaican father and an Indian mother.  She was born in 1964 in California, USA. Her father was a student when he met Kamala’s mother.

Their relationship blossomed and led to their marriage which birthed Kamala. Unfortunately, the couple divorced in 1971 when young Kamala was just 7 years, leaving the responsibilities and challenges of raising young Kamala to rest on the lean shoulders of her mother.

Kamala grew up with her mother and other half siblings in the state of California, USA. Many years later, she grew up to become a fighter, a lawyer, an advocate for equal rights and female inclusion in public sector governance, where she advocated for the rights of women, particularly those believed to have suffered one form of social injustice.

Throughout her career, she has always been breaking the glass ceilings, particularly in the male dominated profession.

She was the first female  attorney general in the state of California, beating other prominent lawyers with long standing and intimidating credentials, to become the attorney general.

She was the first female black president of the law school, during her student years at the University of California. Kamala Harris has achieved a remarkable feat in the public space of the United States.

She entered into the history books when she became the democratic party,s first black woman vice presidential nominee to president Joe Biden after the latter clinched the Democratic Party Presidential ticket at the party’s convention in  2020.

But, one should also note that there are some states that will serve as key decider in the polls, perhaps eight of them will likely determine who wins the 2024 presidential election.

Today, history is almost repeating itself, just like it did when former president  Barack Obama contested against a very strong and well-established political structure, with most political analysts and observers giving him little or no chance to emerge as President.

Kamala Harris’s trajectory is a testament of hope that many women, particularly the mixed raced, if given the opportunities, would achieve feats deemed impossible, especially in a male dominated world like public office.

Kamala has shown to the women’s world that with determination, focused, belief, anyone can be anything in a free world such as the United States of America.

But, one should also note that there are some states that will serve as key decider in the polls, perhaps eight of them will likely determine who wins the 2024 presidential election.

These 8  states of Arizona with 11 electoral votes, Georgia, 16 electoral votes, Michigan: 15 electoral votes, remain crucial as a deciding factor. New Hampshire with 4 electoral votes has not gone to Republicans since the 2000 presidential election. Others are Nevada: 6 electoral votes.

Republicans have not flipped the state of Nevada in the last four presidential cycles. Still, Democrats’ presidential victories have been close enough to keep Republicans playing there.

Trump lost Nevada in 2016 and 2020 by less than 3 percentage points. North Carolina with 16 electoral votes is one key battle state the democrats will be counting  on for victory. Barack Obama won it in 2008 over McCain, the first time since 1976 when Gerald Ford won.

Pennsylvania also with 19 electoral votes is a stronghold for Democratic Party, even though the state was won by Trump in 2016, becoming the first republican to do so. However Biden returned the state to the hands of the Democratic Party, in 2020.

Another battle state is Wisconsin. The state has 10 electoral votes, with signs pointing to Democrats netting its 10 electoral votes.

The state, which has flipped between both parties in recent cycles, had a high-profile judicial election in April in which the left-leaning candidate beat the conservative pick.

Kamala has done her campaign and worked very well, transversing all the states of the US. She has said all that she needs to say.

She promised Americans upliftment and better policies than her erratic opponent. This is the most she can do. The rest is left for the people on Tuesday to vote bearing in mind their tomorrow.

Poor, immigrant Americans should not forget that some politicians are there for their friends. Americans should not return to Egypt as the saying goes.

As for the electoral college, my prayers are that it favours Kamala. Democrats have what it takes to make the country better not a man whose intention was to truncate their democracy and has not shown any remorse until today.

Today, as the World watches and stays glued to their  TV sets, awaiting the outcome of the US presidential election, the suspense of anxiety, fear, and great expectations will resonate as in 2008 when Barack Obama made history by becoming the first black man to be named president of the United States; but this time KAMALA HARRIS.

▪︎Emeka Monye is a journalist and works with ARISE NEWS.

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Crime

Indonesia to Repatriate British Grandmother on Death Row, Says Official

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Indonesia will sign an agreement on Tuesday to repatriate two British nationals convicted of drug-related crimes, including Lindsay Sandiford, a grandmother sentenced to death, according to a senior Indonesian government source.

“The practical arrangement will be signed today. The transfer will be done immediately after the technical side is agreed,” the official told AFP, naming Sandiford and Shahab Shahabadi, 35, as the individuals to be returned to the UK.

Sandiford was sentenced to death in 2013 after she was caught smuggling cocaine worth over $2.1 million into Bali from Thailand. The drugs were discovered concealed in a false bottom of her suitcase. Shahabadi, arrested in 2014, is currently serving a life sentence for separate drug offences.

Although the Indonesian source listed Sandiford’s age as 68, public records indicate she is 69.

A joint press conference with Indonesian officials and the British ambassador to Indonesia was scheduled for later Tuesday, according to the Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs.

Tabloid Attention and Personal Testimony

Sandiford’s case received widespread attention in the UK after she admitted to the offences but claimed she was coerced by a drug syndicate that threatened to kill her son. In a 2015 article published in The Mail on Sunday, Sandiford wrote from prison about her fear of imminent execution:

“My execution is imminent, and I know I might die at any time now. I could be taken tomorrow from my cell. I have started to write goodbye letters to members of my family.”

Originally from Redcar, in northeast England, she also wrote that she planned to sing the Perry Como hit “Magic Moments” before facing the firing squad.

During her time in prison, Sandiford reportedly became close friends with Andrew Chan, one of the “Bali Nine” Australian drug smugglers who was executed in 2015.

Policy Shift on Repatriation

The planned transfer follows recent moves by the Prabowo Subianto administration to repatriate foreign nationals serving harsh sentences for drug crimes. In December 2024, Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina who spent nearly 15 years on death row, was allowed to return home. In February 2025, Serge Atlaoui, a French national, was repatriated after 18 years on death row.

Indonesia, known for having some of the world’s strictest drug laws, last carried out executions in 2016, when three Nigerian citizens and an Indonesian were executed by firing squad. As of early November 2025, more than 90 foreign nationals remain on death row in the country, all for drug-related offences.

The British Embassy in Jakarta declined to comment, directing inquiries to the Indonesian government.

Indonesian authorities have recently signalled the potential resumption of executions, after nearly a decade-long de facto moratorium.

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International

Protest in US over Trump’s policies

Organisers said seven million people marched in protests spanning New York to Los Angeles, with demonstrations popping up in small cities across the US heartland and even near Trump’s home in Florida.

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(AFP): Huge crowds took to the streets in all 50 US states at “No Kings” protests over the weekend, venting anger over President Donald Trump’s hardline policies, while Republicans ridiculed them as “Hate America” rallies.

Organisers said seven million people marched in protests spanning New York to Los Angeles, with demonstrations popping up in small cities across the US heartland and even near Trump’s home in Florida.

“This is what democracy looks like!” chanted thousands in Washington near the US Capitol, where the federal government was shut down for a third week because of a legislative deadlock.

Colourful signs called on people to “protect democracy,” while others demanded the country abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency at the centre of Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown.

Demonstrators slammed what they called the Republican billionaire’s strong-arm tactics, including attacks on the media, political opponents and undocumented immigrants.

“I never thought I would live to see the death of my country as a democracy,” 69-year-old retiree Colleen Hoffman told AFP as she marched down Broadway in New York.

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International

Thieves steal French crown jewels

They included the emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie Louise, and the diadem of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

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•A tiara worn by the Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III was stolen

Thieves wielding power tools raided the Louvre in broad daylight Sunday, taking just seven minutes to grab some of France’s priceless crown jewels, but dropping a gem-encrusted crown as they fled, officials and sources said.

Authorities recovered the 19th-century crown — damaged — near the museum.

The spectacular heist, one of several to target French museums in recent months, forced the closure of the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and home to the Mona Lisa.

Police are looking for a team of four thieves, Paris’s chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau, told the BFMTV channel.

Soldiers patrolled the famed glass pyramid entrance, while evacuated visitors, tourists and passersby were kept at a distance behind police tape.

It was “like a Hollywood movie”, one American tourist, Talia Ocampo, told AFP.

It was “crazy” and “something we won’t forget — we could not go to the Louvre because there was a robbery”, she said.

A culture ministry statement said eight items of jewellery had been stolen from the Gallerie Apollon which houses the French crown jewels.

“Two high-security display cases were targeted, and eight objects of invaluable cultural heritage were stolen,” said the ministry statement.

They included the emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie Louise, and the diadem of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

Beccuau said the thieves threatened museum guards with the angle grinders they used to break into the jewellery cases. She said a team of 60 investigators were assigned to the crime.

– ‘Unsellable’ –

The robbers used a powered, extendable ladder of the sort used to hoist furniture into buildings to get into a gilded gallery housing the crown jewels, sources and officials said.

The 19th-century crown of Empress Eugenie, was found broken near the museum afterwards, a source following the robbery said, asking to remain anonymous because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The crown, featuring golden eagles, is covered in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the museum’s website.

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