United Auto Workers call for cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war

The United Auto Workers on Friday became the highest-profile union in the country to call for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas, buoying calls within labor movement to stop the fighting and setting the powerful union apart from President Joe Biden on a key policy issue.

“I am proud that the UAW International Union is calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine. From opposing fascism in WWII to mobilizing against apartheid South Africa and the CONTRA war, the @UAW has consistently stood for justice across the globe,” union president Shawn Fain said Friday in a post on the social media platform X.

The announcement nearly two months into the war sets UAW apart from much of the labor and Democratic establishment, including Biden — who has still not yet received an endorsement from the UAW, even after he showed the union historic support this fall.

United Electrical Workers and UFCW Local 3000, which says it represents 50,000 workers in the Pacific Northwest, have been circulating a petition calling for the labor movement to demand a cease-fire. But those organizations are in the minority, as most of the largest labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO, have aligned with Biden in rejecting calls for a cease-fire.

Fain has made clear that endorsing former President Donald Trump in 2024 isn’t on the table. But the UAW’s lack of endorsement so far for Biden also marks a break from the AFL-CIO, which earlier in the campaign issued its earliest-ever presidential endorsement in favor of the current president.

Biden visited the picket line during the auto workers’ strike against Detroit auto companies in September, an unprecedented show of solidarity with the union. Both Trump and Biden have fought for the votes of the blue collar, Rust Belt autoworkers that the UAW represents.

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Inside the Biden administration’s secret deal to stop a war in Congo

A top U.S. intelligence official presented a detailed proposal to the leaders of Congo and Rwanda last week for a pact to reduce fighting in eastern Congo — and promised to help enforce the deal.

The leaders largely signed off on the U.S. plan, which included commitments for Rwanda to pull back its forces and offensive military equipment by Jan. 1 and for Congo to ground its drones, according to a readout of the meetings.

The readout shows that the U.S. is playing a much more active role than previously disclosed in trying to calm tensions in the increasingly volatile region, where conflict between Congolese forces and rebels backed by neighboring Rwanda is threatening to escalate into all-out war between the countries.

The Biden administration previously said that Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines flew to the region last week to “secure commitments” from Congolese and Rwandan leaders to deescalate fighting and that they “plan to take specific steps to reduce current tensions.” But the administration did not disclose the extent to which the U.S. was designing and overseeing the plan.

Washington drew up the deal, according to the readout. The administration is also setting up an intelligence fusion cell — a formalized information-sharing mechanism — to transmit data to Congo and Rwanda about ground movements and to ensure both countries adhere to the deal.

It’s a surprising level of engagement for a U.S. administration that has played a more passive role in the talks between warring parties involved in other conflicts on the continent. And it highlights the seriousness with which Washington views the potential for war and for the long-volatile region to become the latest global flashpoint.

Wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas are already destabilizing regions and straining global alliances. And a conflict between Congo and Rwanda could easily spill into other parts of Africa. It could also undermine U.S. efforts to counter China on the continent.

Previous conflicts in Congo, a country about the size of Western Europe in the center of the African continent, have pulled neighboring countries into years of fighting. A war in Congo would also complicate Washington’s efforts to woo the country away from China and gain more access to its critical minerals for electric vehicles and other advanced technologies.

Asked for comment on the U.S. involvement in the deal, a senior U.S. official said Washington is using diplomacy and intelligence “to push the sides to fulfill all of the obligations and that's a conversation that we're able to leverage intelligence resources to validate.”

“But more importantly, it's fostering this channel where they can talk together,” the official said.

Fighting in the eastern part of Congo has dragged on for decades. Since the Rwandan genocide, various rebel groups and militaries have vied for control over the border region — an area that sits in the middle of a high-traffic commercial trade route and is rich in natural resources, including copper and cobalt.

Members of M23, many of whom are of Rwandan descent, are aligned against the Congolese government.

The situation in eastern Congo has become increasingly violent over the past year. After nearly 10 years of relative calm in the eastern part of Congo, rebels with the March 23 Movement — a group supported by Rwanda — gained control over parts of eastern Congo in 2022.

Since May, soldiers aligned with the Congolese army have launched fierce counteroffensives. The clashes have exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis and prompted the United Nations in October to warn about a potential direct confrontation between the two countries.

“Since early October, the situation has gotten significantly worse,” said Graham Inglis, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in eastern Congo. “There are tens and tens of thousands of new displaced people.”

The U.S. has previously attempted to ease tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda — primarily through diplomatic channels. This month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached out to leaders of both countries, asking them to deescalate and engage in diplomatic talks to end the fighting. But the meeting between Haines and the leaders of Congo and Rwanda is a higher-level engagement with more specific asks.

“We are looking to work with both sides to take steps that reduce fighting in eastern DRC and avoid the prospect for interstate conflict,” a second senior U.S. official said. “We worked with both sides to identify what equipment and posture they view as offensive in nature and then options to remove some of those from the equation so that there’s a less chance for miscalculation." Both officials were granted anonymity to speak about sensitive negotiations with Congo and Rwanda.

The intervention was welcomed by Congolese officials, said Patrick Muyaya, a spokesperson for the Congolese government.

“When it comes to Ukraine, the United States is doing its best. When it comes to Rwanda, which is acting the way sometimes Vladimir Putin is acting, we are not receiving the same answer or the same reaction from the United States,” he said. “It's a bit unfair for Congolese people, so we hope that these last rounds of discussions will be able to deliver.”

Haines’ visit included separate meetings with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi. The talks with Tshisekedi took place in a small, closed-door meeting at the Kinshasa airport on Nov. 20, according to the readout.

Haines told Tshisekedi that President Joe Biden was particularly worried about a direct conflict breaking out between Congo and Rwanda in the lead-up to the Congolese presidential elections on Dec. 20. The deal also incorporated language to limit hate speech and to refrain from interfering in the other’s political processes, including elections.

Haines urged Tshisekedi to agree to the deal’s terms, which included his government issuing an order prohibiting the funneling of arms to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, an armed rebel group that operates in eastern Congo.

The meeting with Haines comes as Washington is attempting to counter China in Africa.

“The Chinese have cornered the market on Congolese minerals and have for a number of years. And we have in office right now [in Congo] a government which has at least shown itself amenable to revisiting those contracts,” said Cameron Hudson, a former intelligence analyst for Africa at the CIA. “A glaring piece of this that I think undermines all of this is that there’s a proxy war going on in the eastern part of the country.”

Over the last several years, the administration has worked to establish economic pacts with Congo and its neighbors to develop trade routes for the export of minerals such as copper and cobalt — a key component for electric vehicle batteries.

Congo is home to about 70 percent of the world’s cobalt reserves, and China is its main producer. Beijing is Kinshasa’s largest trading partner, having gobbled up key mining rights beginning in the 2000s. Its control over the market has put it far ahead of the U.S. race to secure critical components needed for electric vehicle batteries.

In an effort to find a way into that market, the U.S. in September signed a memorandum of understanding with Congo and Zambia to help stand up a supply chain for the batteries. The administration also committed to help develop a new rail line that will connect southern Congo and northwestern Zambia via the Lobito Port in Angola. The pathway is critical for the export of minerals key to EV battery production.

An escalation in fighting in eastern Congo could undercut those agreements.

The current U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo is drawing down by the end of the year. A withdrawal of U.N. forces will leave a security vacuum in the country right as elections are set to kick off, potentially complicating the implementation of the U.S. agreement.

Phelim Kine contributed to this report.

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Renewed Israel-Gaza war crowds out climate at COP28

The Iranian delegation walked out, several leaders chided Israel and a flurry of diplomacy broke out as the ceasefire collapsed.

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Latimer visits Israel ahead of potential run against Bowman

ALBANY, N.Y. — Westchester County Executive George Latimer toured Israel this week in advance of an announcement on whether he will launch a heavyweight Democratic primary challenge against Rep. Jamaal Bowman.

While many area Democrats expect Latimer to run, he didn’t confirm his plans late Wednesday in a call from Israel. But he did say that if he does launch a bid, his campaign message would focus on his record as “the most progressive” county official in New York.

Latimer has been planning to announce a final decision in early December, and he said he’s sticking to that timing — while offering a sharp contract with Bowman on policy and the Israel-Hamas war in a district with one of the most heavily Jewish populations in the nation.

Bowman “has been in Congress for three years, and I’ve done a bunch of things over the past three decades,” Latimer said in an interview with POLITICO.

“We’ve cut taxes and reduced crime, but we’ve also made the buses environmentally friendly,” Latimer said. “We’ve done Black maternal health; we’ve built recreational communities in the heart of poor communities. I’ve done a ton of things that represent progressive government”

He added, “Right now in Congress, a lot of it is showtime down there. A lot of it is posturing and culture wars.”

Latimer’s trip came as Bowman, a former Democratic Socialist and a member of the liberal Squad, faces criticism locally for not being strong in his support of Israel, including calling for a ceasefire and not signing a resolution in support of Israel last month.

The county executive and former state lawmaker said that his time with Israelis, such as meeting with President Isaac Herzog, taught him that there is “no animosity directed toward the Palestinian people.”

“There’s people that are protesting that they’re pro-Palestine, as if the Israeli position is anti-Palestinian,” he said in an interview while waiting to board his return flight at Ben Gurion Airport.

“There wasn’t a ‘let’s go get those bastards’ kind of mindset,” he said. “The anger and fear is directed at Hamas as the terrorist organization that runs the country and that’s a differentiation you don’t often pick up.”

Bowman has been one of the members of Congress most closely identified with a pro-Palestinian position. Dozens of rabbis publicly urged Latimer to challenge him in October, citing actions such as Bowman’s boycotts of a speech by Herzog last July.

A challenge against Bowman would be one of the highest-profile primary battles in New York’s history. Latimer, who has won every election he’s been in since 1987 while often being one of New York Republican’s top targets, would face off against an incumbent who has been a star of the left since he ousted longtime Rep. Eliot Engel in 2020.

And the race would instantly be treated as the national measuring stick of whether Democrats have any room to deviate from the party’s traditional full-throated support of Israel.

If Latimer does launch a campaign in the next few days, Israel will be a “big issue” but “not the whole issue,” he said.

Latimer said that much of his messaging would be on his record in state and local offices.

“I don’t think you’re going to see me on MSNBC a whole lot, but I think you will see me doing the kind of grunt work that effective legislators do,” he said.

Latimer spent most of Monday through Wednesday in Israel. He was joined by a delegation of area officials that included Assemblymember Amy Paulin and New Rochelle Mayor-elect Yadira Ramos-Herbert.

“Sadness, not exuberant war fever” was the mood he encountered most, he said.

But the Israeli officials he spoke with made clear that this sadness still means that “wiping out Hamas” is an essentiality.

“The case they made is kind of straightforward,” he said. “If the enemy was sitting in Connecticut and they came over the border and killed a bunch of people in your border communities, how would you react to it?”

A permanent ceasefire — like the one supported by Bowman since October — can’t work as long as Hamas keeps hostages, Latimer said.

“You can’t take hostages, keep them, then say ‘OK, let’s negotiate now, let’s be nice, let’s have peace now,’” he said. “I don’t have the George Latimer Peace Plan, it just seems logical to me the first thing you’ve got to do is release hostages. You took hostages.”

Bowman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Latimer pointed to the history of Ireland as a goal for the Middle East: “Northern Ireland was intractable by any outside observation, and yet somehow they figured out how to get peace. And I think the critical element of that was the necessity of both sides to put terrorism aside.”

Peace is a possibility if something similar happens, but “it’s not going to happen with a ceasefire now” as long as Hamas supports terrorism.

“I’m not a secretary of state level guy,” he said.

But, he added, “I’m thinking about national issues more than I have before.”

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Eye-catching climate donations put spotlight on China at COP climate talks

The oil-rich UAE aimed to slough off criticism about its role leading the U.N. climate talks with a $100 million pledge to aid poorer, climate-stricken countries.

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Meta files suit to kneecap the FTC

Meta is suing the Federal Trade Commission, challenging the constitutionality of its in-house enforcement powers in a bid to stop the agency from unilaterally changing the terms of a 2020 privacy settlement.

The tech giant argued in its suit filed late Wednesday that the agency has “structurally unconstitutional authority” in how it enforces cases against companies through its in-house administrative court.

On Monday, Meta lost a bid to bar the FTC from reopening a 2020 enforcement order against the company, in which the agency accused Meta of privacy violations against children. Meta filed an appeal to that decision on Tuesday. Meta is also seeking to pause the FTC’s case while its lawsuit and appeal play out.

As part of its 2020 settlement Meta paid a $5 billion fine and agreed to make major changes to its privacy practices.

“The FTC’s unilateral attempt to rewrite our privacy settlement agreement raises serious and important issues about the FTC’s constitutional authority and Meta’s due process rights,” Chris Sgro, a Meta spokesperson, said in a statement. “Monday’s ruling did not reach those issues and the Judge suggested that Meta raise them in a separate suit. The FTC shouldn’t be the prosecutor, judge, and jury in the same case.”

The FTC declined to comment.

The claims: The FTC is able to handle enforcement through two methods: By filing a lawsuit through a federal court, or bringing its case directly to a company through its “administrative process,” a structure created by Congress in the FTC Act of 1914.

Companies facing these in-house cases can either settle the charges or challenge the complaint with an administrative law judge, where the FTC commissioners vote on a final decision. At that point companies can appeal in a federal appellate court of their choice.

Meta’s lawsuit argues that this structure is unconstitutional and violates its due process rights, claiming that it allows the FTC to be both the prosecutor and the judge in its enforcement.

Echoing past complaints: Other companies have made similar arguments in the past to restrict regulatory agencies.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments on a challenge to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s authority to enforce federal laws, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also faces similar legaltests of its authority.

Illumina, the gene sequencing equipment maker, also has a pending challenge to the FTC’s in-house court as it defends its takeover of cancer test-maker Grail. A decision on that is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

In April, the Supreme Court ruled against the FTC, saying defendants can bring constitutional challenges to the agency’s administrative enforcement authority prior to resolving the underlying case. In that case, the FTC dropped its challenge to the merger of two police equipment-makers, rather than litigate whether its procedures are constitutional.

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U.S. Navy warship shoots down drone launched by Houthis from Yemen, official says

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy warship sailing near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait shot down a drone launched from Yemen, a U.S. official said Wednesday, in the latest in a string of threats from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

The official said according to initial reports, USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, deemed the drone — an Iranian-made KAS-04 — to be a threat and shot it down over water in the southern Red Sea as the ship was moving toward the strait. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a military operation not yet made public.

The Wednesday shootdown comes a day after an Iranian drone flew within 1,500 yards of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier as it was conducting flight operations in international waters in the Arabian Gulf.

Navy Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said the drone “violated safety precautions” by not staying more than 10 nautical miles from the ship. The drone ignored multiple warnings but eventually turned away.

Earlier this month, another Navy destroyer, the USS Thomas Hudner, shot down a drone that was heading toward the ship as it sailed in the southern Red Sea. It also was near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and it shot down the drone over the water.

The Red Sea, stretching from Egypt’s Suez Canal to the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait separating the Arabian Peninsula from Africa, is a key trade route for global shipping and energy supplies. The U.S. Navy has stationed multiple ships in the sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, which has heightened tensions in the region.

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