Democrat and Trump foe Hillary Clinton was one of those targeted just days before the bitterly divided country votes November 6 in elections seen as a referendum on the Republican president.

CNN is known for its robust coverage of the Trump administration and for constantly provoking the ire of the president, who succeeded Obama and defeated Clinton in 2016. Signs at his rallies condemn the network.

The spree of bomb alerts kicked off Monday with a device found at the New York home of billionaire liberal donor George Soros. “So far the devices have been what appear to be pipe bombs,” said FBI agent Bryan Paarmann.

“Whether it’s one person or a network, not really sure at this point,” New York police chief James O’Neill told CNN, saying he expected those responsible to be identified and arrested within the next few days.

At least six suspicious packages were sent in New York, Washington and Florida, including to prominent African American Democrats — Obama’s former attorney general Eric Holder and Maxine Waters, a lawmaker from California.

They were sent in manila envelopes with bubble wrap, marked with computer-printed address labels. Each listed Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, as the sender.

The US president appealed for unity in extremely brief remarks, saying “acts of political violence” have “no place in the United States.”

On Twitter, #MAGABomber trended in the United States as users flooded the microblogging site with accusations that Trump had incited the attempted attacks and highlighting the toxic remarks he has leveled against the targets in the past.

Liberal and left-wing critics accuse his rhetoric-laden “Make America Great Again” presidency of emboldening right-wing extremists. He has endorsed the body-slamming of a reporter and denounces critical press as “fake news”.

– ‘Words matter’ –

“There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” said CNN president Jeff Zucker.

“Words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”

CNN evacuated its New York bureau Wednesday after the pipe bomb was found in the mailroom together with an envelope containing white powder. A bomb squad secured the device and removed it for investigation, police said.

The packaging was addressed care of CNN to former CIA director John Brennan, who has appeared on the channel as a guest and is perhaps Trump’s toughest critic from the national security community.

The Secret Service intercepted the package addressed to Clinton at the home she shares with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, north of Manhattan on Tuesday, and a second package addressed to Obama’s Washington home on Wednesday.

There has been no claim of responsibility and no one was yet known to have been arrested.

Clinton, who has remained an outspoken political force despite her stunning loss to Trump in the 2016 election, raised concerns about what she called a “troubling time” in America.

“It’s a time of deep divisions, and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together,” she said.

Top Democrat lawmakers Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer accused Trump of condoning “physical violence and dividing Americans.”

‘Domestic terrorism’

In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned “an effort to terrorize” and appealed to all elected officials, from the top down, to refrain from encouraging violence.

“Unfortunately this atmosphere of hatred is contributing to the choices people are making,” he said.

The Secret Service said the packages were “immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures” and that neither Clinton or Obama were ever at risk of receiving them.

Republican lawmakers followed the White House in issuing condemnations, just over a year after a shooter angry about Trump shot four people at a congressional baseball practice near Washington.

“Violence and terror have no place in our politics or anywhere else,” tweeted senior Republican lawmaker Steve Scalise, who was seriously injured at the baseball practice in June 2017.

The top Republican lawmaker, Mitch McConnell, slammed “attempted acts of domestic terrorism.”

Soros, the target of the first device, has long been a hate figure for right-wing groups and lives in Bedford, New York, not far from the Clintons.

The 88-year-old is one of the world’s richest men and supported Clinton in 2016. He has been accused by nationalists of sponsoring protests and seeking to push a liberal, multicultural agenda.

Earlier this month, Trump accused Soros of paying demonstrators to protest against Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination to the Supreme Court was almost derailed after he was accused of attempted rape while in high school.

Soros has also been falsely accused of funding the caravan of migrants moving north from Honduras through Mexico en route to the US border.

Genevieve de Fontenay, who organised the contest for over half a century until 2010, said she was heartbroken over the theft of the dresses worn during the national finals.

They include the figure-hugging white number worn by its first-ever African-born winner, Sonia Rolland, in 2000.

“An essential part of the history of the Miss France contest has gone up in smoke,” said Fontenay, who lives in the building that houses the Miss France committee headquarters in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, calling it a “bitter blow”.

    Over seven million people watched Alicia Aylies from French Guiana in South America be crowned last year’s Miss France winner.

However, Prayut said, the dialogue will only be carried out within the framework of Thailand’s Constitution.

The two premiers met at Government House and the highlight of the meeting was the violence-wracked deep South. Malaysia recently appointed its former national police chief, Abdul Rahim Noor, as facilitator, while the Thai side has chosen former Fourth Army Region Commander Udomchai Thamsarorat to lead negotiations with MARA Patani.

Violence has rocked the predominantly Muslim region since early 2004 claiming over 7,000 lives so far, and dialogue with insurgent groups, initiated since 2013, has yielded no significant results.

At a press conference after the meeting, Prayut said that though the situation in the South was an internal matter, cooperation from Malaysia and other countries in the region would make resolving it easier.

He added that the discussion with Mahathir showed that both sides understand each other’s concerns and limitations.

Apart from cooperating in relation to the South, Prayut said the two countries will also work together on other issues, such as border security, economic development, measures to tackle broader security issues, particularly in countering terrorism, extremism and transnational crimes such as trafficking in drugs and humans.

Mahathir recalled the two neighbours’ history of strong cooperation, saying, “When Malaysia was facing the issue of terrorism before, Thailand helped in many ways to put an end to those activities.

“We are grateful to the Thai government and the Thai people.”

As for violence in the South, Mahathir pledged to do what is needed to help end it.

“I’m sure when the two countries sincerely work together to solve a problem, the problem will be [alleviated] if not ended altogether,” Mahathir said.

The two premiers also discussed trade and other means of cooperation within Asean.

Prayut said he proposed that both sides elevate economic cooperation to the level of enhanced strategic economic partnership, with an emphasis on border-area development, connectivity, trade and investment, as well as tourism.

Mahathir agreed, saying both countries have experienced a growth in bilateral trade, and it will grow further if they can cut down the bureaucracy and make it easier for goods and people to cross the border.

However, he admitted that human-trafficking was one of the problems at the southern border.

“More attention should be paid to this so the smuggling of goods and humans cannot happen,” he said. “We are very concerned about human trafficking. It has to stop. We will take action to stop the exploitation of Malaysia and Thailand [as transit points] to go to other places.”

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the island shuttered in April for a major effort to fortify weak infrastructure and crack down on the rampant overdevelopment that had left it, what he termed, a “cesspool”.

When the government throws open the doors, Boracay will have fewer hotels and restaurants, a cap on the number of visitors and anti beach boozing rules aimed at taming its party-hard reputation.

All of this is intended to protect the bruised beauty of the island’s turquoise waters and expanses of white sand beaches which were being loved to death by two million tourists per year.

    Tourism Secretary Bernadette RomuloPuyat said she hopes the new Boracay will be the start of a “culture of sustainable tourism” in the Philippines, adding other tourist destinations will be next.

“It means taking account of the repercussions of our actions on current and future situations of the environment,” she told reporters on Friday.

Romulo-Puyat said she has sent a written “warning” to other top Philippine tourist draws including El Nido and Panglao islands, while others, such as the whale shark feeding site of Oslob have cut its tourist arrivals by half.

Boracay, which major tourist magazines consistently rate as among the world’s best beaches, is a mere 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres).

Industry ‘sacrifice’ during closure 

Yet it was seeing up to 40,000 sun worshippers at peak times, who left behind $1 billion a year but also mountains of garbage, an overflowing sewer system and a carnivallike atmosphere.

Under the new rules, 19,200 tourists will be allowed on the island at any one time, with the government aiming to enforce that by controlling the number of available hotel rooms.

Fire eaters, masseuses, vendors, stray dogs, bonfires and even the builders of its famous photo op sandcastles have been chased from the beachfront, while buildings were torn down to create a 30metre(98foot) easement from the waterline.

All water sports save for swimming are also banned for the time being, while Boracay’s three casinos have been permanently shut down in line with Duterte’s wishes.

Nearly 400 hotels and restaurants deemed to violate local environmental laws have already been ordered closed and airlines as well as ferries were told to restrict service to the area.

Boozing and smoking are banned on the beach and the huge multi-day beach parties dubbed “LaBoracay” that drew tens of thousands of tourists during the May 1 Labour Day weekend will be a thing of the past.

The Boracay Foundation, the main business industry group on the island, did not comment on the new rules but welcomed the return of tourists.

“We are pleased that workers have now got their jobs back and will now be able to do what they love and provide for their families,” its executive director Pia Miraflores told AFP.

“Everyone, big and small, has sacrificed a lot during the six-month (closure),” she added.

Other places in the region strained by mass tourism have also used closures as a tactic to protect the sites from destruction.

Thai authorities announced in October that the glittering bay immortalised in the movie “The Beach” will be closed indefinitely to allow it to recover from the impact of hordes of tourists.

Qatar-based news broadcaster Al-Jazeera reported that pundits on Twitter reacted to a photo released by the Saudi government showing Salah Khashoggi and Mohammed shaking hands.

The photo apparently showed Salah’s “pained expression” as he shook the hands of Mohammed.

The report said King Salman and Mohammed received Salah and Khashoggi’s other son, Sahel, at the Yamama Palace in Riyadh on Tuesday (Oct 23).

“They brought him to the royal court to accept condolences. The look on his face. This photo makes me want to scream and throw up,” Manal al-Sharif, the author of Daring to Drive: a Saudi Woman’s Awakening was quoted as saying.

The report also said Middle-East human rights advocate Fadi Al-Qadi called the photo-op “ruthless”.

“And here is the video. Salah (#JamalKhashoggi son, banned from travel) had to shake hands with (the person) who is believed to be his dad’s killer. Ruthless. Ruthless. Ruthless #Khashoggi,” he said.

British television presenter Piers Morgan called the photo session “repulsive”.

“Saudi tyrant ‘MBS’ – a.k.a. Mohammed Bone Saw – forces Jamal Khashoggi’s son to do a PR photo-op handshake, days after ordering his father’s torture, dismemberment and murder. A new low, even by the medieval standards of this barbaric crown prince,” he tweeted.

The report said a friend of the Khashoggi family had told the Associated Press that Salah had come under a travel ban since his father had began writing critically about the prince for The Washington Post.

Khashoggi, a columnist with the Washington Post, went missing after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2.

Turkish officials believe he was tortured and killed while in the consulate, and his body dismembered.

Saudi officials initially denied claims he was dead and said he had left the consulate. However, on Saturday (Oct 20), they finally admitted that Khashoggi had been killed, supposedly in a fistfight with at least 15 security personnel.

The killing has seen bipartisan condemnation from both Democratic and Republican senators in the United States, although US President Donald Trump said he found the Saudi explanation “credible”.

“They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups,” Trump declared in the Oval Office.

“Bad deal, should have never been thought of. Somebody really messed up. And they had the worst cover-up ever,” he added.

“Because whoever thought of that idea, I think is in big trouble. And they should be in big trouble. Okay?”

After more than two weeks of near silence, Saudi Arabia admitted Saturday that Khashoggi, 59, was killed in its Istanbul consulate on October 2, in what it said was an operation gone wrong.

But Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged Tuesday that Khashoggi was targeted in a meticulously planned killing — and demanded that 18 suspects detained by Saudi Arabia be extradited to Istanbul to face trial.

Asked about Erdogan’s call for those behind Khashoggi’s “savage murder” to face punishment, Trump said the Turkish president had been “pretty rough on Saudi Arabia.”

But when questioned about whether he believes the Saudi account of events leading up to Khashoggi’s death, Trump replied, “I want to see the facts first” — while reiterating Riyadh’s importance as a US ally in the Middle East.

“Look, Saudi Arabia has been a really great ally. They’ve been one of the biggest investors, maybe the biggest investor, in our country,” he said.

A former royal family insider turned critic of the Saudi crown prince, Khashoggi disappeared after he entered the consulate to collect a document for his upcoming marriage.

The murder of the Washington Post contributor has severely dented the international reputation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The killing also overshadowed a major investment forum that opened in Riyadh Tuesday.