Moscow:

Russia’s prosecutor general on Monday said it had banned a foundation started by US film star George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal.

“The activities of The Clooney Foundation for Justice are declared undesirable on the territory of our country,” it said in a statement.

The organisation “conducts extensive work aimed at discrediting Russia, actively supports false patriots and members of banned terrorist and extremist groups”.

“Under the guise of humanitarian ideas, these ‘warriors for justice’… advance initiatives of criminal probes against the highest Russian authorities,” it said in the statement entitled “The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office Appreciates Hollywood Activists’ Acting Talent”.

After Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities have upped repression of dissent to levels not seen since the Soviet Union.

In July, the Clooney Foundation, along with several other non-governmental organisations, filed a case with the UN Human Rights Committee, accusing Russia of violating the human rights of Ukrainians killed in a 2022 missile attack on Vinnytsia.

In early August, Russia’s prosecutor general banned as “undesirable” German pro-democracy foundation Konrad Adenauer and in July did the same with the Moscow Times news outlet.

The “undesirable” status forces organisations to shut down in Russia and means Russians that work for, fund or collaborate with them can also be liable to prosecution. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mr. Biden suffered a stunning blow on July 10, 2024, when supporter Clooney urged him to drop his reelection bid, while party heavyweight Nancy Pelosi declined to back his candidacy. “I love Joe Biden,” Mr. Clooney, who hosted a star-studded fundraiser with Mr. Biden just last month, wrote in the New York Times. “But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A top Hollywood fundraiser for U.S. President Joe Biden called for a new Democratic presidential candidate on July 10, arguing that the party cannot win the White House in November with him as the nominee.

“We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we will not win the House, and we are going to lose the Senate. This is not only my opinion, this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor who I have spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly,” George Clooney, an actor, director and film producer, said in an op-ed in “The New York Times”.

Mr. Clooney, who hosted a very successful fundraiser for Mr. Biden in June, said he observed a different Joe Biden at that event.

“The one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It is devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He was not even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” he wrote.

“Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people did not see what we just saw. We are all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we have opted to ignore every warning sign,” Mr. Clooney said.

“I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a Vice President and as President. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he has won many of the battles he has faced,” he added.

Mr. Clooney said they all think Republicans should abandon their nominee now that he has been convicted of 34 felonies. That is new and upsetting information as well. “Top Democrats— Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi— and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside,” he argued.

“All of the scary stories that we are being told about what would happen next are simply not true. In all likelihood, the money in the Biden-Harris coffers could go to help elect the presidential ticket and other Democrats. The new nominee would not be left off ballots in Ohio,” he said.

“We Democrats have a very exciting bench. We do not anoint leaders or fall swayed to a cult of personality; we vote for a President. We can easily foresee a group of several strong Democrats stepping forward to stand and tell us why they are best qualified to lead this country and take on some of the deeply concerning trends we are seeing from the revenge tour that Donald Trump calls a presidential campaign,” Mr. Clooney wrote.

New York:

Actor George Clooney, one of the Democratic Party’s leading fundraisers, on Wednesday made an emotional and heartfelt plea for President Joe Biden to end his faltering reelection campaign.

Clooney — a member of the Hollywood elite that provides key support to the Democrats — joined a growing list of public figures calling for Biden, 81, to step aside after his terrible debate performance against Donald Trump last month.

“I love Joe Biden,” Clooney wrote in the New York Times. “I consider him a friend, and I believe in him… But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time.”

A self-described “lifelong Democrat,” Clooney co-hosted a star-studded fundraiser with Biden in Los Angeles only last month featuring former president Barack Obama.

The Biden campaign said that the event brought in a record $28 million.

“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote, referencing a famous hot-mic clip from Biden’s vice presidency.

“He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,” Clooney said — a direct challenge to Biden’s claim that his poor debate showing was a one-off.

“The dam has broken” on Democratic lawmakers publicly calling for Biden to withdraw, Clooney said, asking more come forward.

“Top Democrats — Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.”

The Oscar-winner brushed aside worries that Biden’s exit would create chaos four months before an election in which the Democrats hope to keep Trump from power, and did not endorse a replacement candidate.

The party should hear from contenders such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and others, “then we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out,” he wrote.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)