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NEW YORK: New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani rallied supporters Sunday with heavyweight support from US Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the race enters its final stretch, telling a raucous crowd that his campaign is a “movement of the masses.”
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, took the stage at a small stadium in Queens where he and two of the nation’s leading progressives pitched his candidacy as a force to take on billionaires and “oligarchs” who have thrown money and support behind his opponents.
“When you insist on building a coalition with room for every New Yorker, that is exactly what you create: a tremendous force,” Mamdani said. “This, my friends, was your movement, and it always will be.”
As the crowd chanted his name, Mamdani reiterated plans to hire thousands of new teachers, renegotiate city contracts, freeze rent increases for the city’s 1 million rent-regulated apartments, build more affordable housing and provide universal child care.
With early voting underway ahead of Election Day on Nov. 4, Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is in an increasingly caustic race with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, who campaigned Sunday in Queens.
Cuomo has sought to cast Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblymember, as a naive candidate whose agenda would damage the city. In a radio interview Sunday morning, Cuomo argued that he is the real Democrat in the race while saying Mamdani’s democratic socialism would result in an exodus of residents and businesses.
“The socialists want to take over the Democratic Party. That’s what Bernie Sanders is all about. That’s what AOC is all about,” Cuomo said, adding, “He wins, book airline tickets for Florida now.”
Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 following a barrage of sexual harassment allegations that he denies. Mamdani has often pressed Cuomo over the allegations, and on Sunday he told the crowd that it is time to leave behind the former governor’s “playbook of the past.” But he urged supporters not to take his lead in the polls for granted and to turn out to vote.
“We cannot allow complacency to infiltrate this movement,” Mamdani said.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have supported his campaign for months including before the Democratic primary in June. On Sunday they cast Mamdani as an antidote to what they called the creeping authoritarianism of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes Queens, said a victory for Mamdani will send a message nationally that a progressive message can prevail.
“It is not a coincidence that the very forces that Zohran is up against in this race mirrors what we are up against nationally ... an authoritarian, criminal presidency fueled by corruption and bigotry, and an ascendant right-wing extremist movement,” she said.
Sanders said a Mayor Mamdani would represent “not the billionaire class” but working families.
“In the year 2025, when the people on top have never, ever had so much economic and political power, is it possible for ordinary people, for working class people, to come together and defeat those oligarchs?” Sanders said. “You’re damn right we can.”
Under the slogan “New York Is Not For Sale,” the rally featured rousing speeches from religious and labor leaders along with state elected officials including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. The event was emceed by Sarah Sherman of “Saturday Night Live.”
Mamdani recently received an endorsement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a moderate New York Democrat. Jeffries, in a statement, said he has disagreements with Mamdani but supports him as the nominee, adding that the party should unify against Republicans and Trump.
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams abandoned his reelection campaign and endorsed Cuomo.

KUALA LUMPUR: Myanmar’s military rulers must put an end to the “deplorable” violence inflicted on the population since 2021 and find a “credible path” back to civilian government, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Guterres said the military takeover had not only “piled calamity upon calamity” on Myanmar but also threatened regional stability.

“I reiterate my call for an immediate end to the violence, a genuine commitment to inclusive dialogue and a credible path back to civilian rule,” he said.

Since the 2021 coup against the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar has been locked in turmoil, with an armed rebellion seizing control of large swathes of territory.

The military government says it intends to return Myanmar to democratic rule via a general election at the end of this year, even as the civil war rages, but the credibility of the vote has been questioned and the junta’s critics expect it to stay in power through proxies.

Opposition parties have been dissolved for failing to register, rebel groups and a shadow government have refused to join the political fold and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has admitted that a vote cannot be held nationwide.

“The way forward must lead to a restoration of democratic institutions anchored in the rule of law and human rights,” Guterres said. Asked about the election, he said: “I don’t think anybody believes that those elections will be free and fair.”

He also gave his backing to a peace plan drawn up in 2021 by ASEAN to end hostilities and start dialogue, which the military government has largely ignored.

“It’s time to open humanitarian channels, end the violence and facilitate a comprehensive political solution,” he said. “The people of Myanmar are counting on our collective support.”