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Year: 2024

Harris leaves out deadly botched Afghanistan withdrawal in soaring pro-military DNC speech

Harris leaves out deadly botched Afghanistan withdrawal in soaring pro-military DNC speech

CHICAGO – Vice President Kamala Harris touted her foreign policy record and support of veterans during her Democratic National Convention (DNC) acceptance speech, while leaving out the 13 U.S. service members who were killed during the White House’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.  “I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. And I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un, who are rooting for Trump. Because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors. They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable — because he wants to be an autocrat,” Harris touted from the DNC’s stage in Chicago Thursday evening.  “As president, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals. Because, in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand — and where the United States of America belongs.” Harris also celebrated her foreign policy record as vice president, including her handling of the yearslong war in Russia.  GOLD STAR DAD SAYS BIDEN-HARRIS ‘DENIED’ SON’S SERVICE AS FALLEN AFGHANISTAN SOLDIERS HONORED IN CALIFORNIA “Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade. I helped mobilize a global response — over 50 countries — to defend against Putin’s aggression. And as President, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies,” she added.  Harris touting her record on foreign affairs comes years after the Biden administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.  The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members defending the Kabul airport during the operation, while hundreds of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies were left in the country under Taliban rule. Critics such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the withdrawal paved the way for adversaries such as Russia to invade Ukraine.  The Taliban claimed control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal.  AMERICA’S VETERANS, HEROES GET SUPPORT THROUGH BOLD MT KILIMANJARO CLIMB FOR CHARITY During the Republican National Convention last month in Milwaukee, families of those killed during the withdrawal took the stage for 20 minutes in an emotional remembrance of the service members.  “Look at our faces. Look at our pain, and our heartbreak. And look at our rage. [The Afghanistan withdrawal] was not an extraordinary success,” Cheryl Juels, the aunt of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, said. “Joe Biden owes the men and women who served in Afghanistan a debt of gratitude, and an apology.” Harris previously confirmed that she was the “last person in the room” with Biden before he made the decision to withdraw and also told the media that she was “comfortable” with the operation that ultimately turned deadly and chaotic.   3 YEARS LATER, AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERANS HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN – HAVE YOU? ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS PROTEST VP HARRIS NOMINATION NEAR DNC, HAND OUT FLYERS FOR GLOBAL ‘INTIFADA’ Harris went on to praise veterans and the military during her DNC speech, without a mention of the Afghanistan withdrawal and those who lost their lives.  “I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big, for-profit colleges, for workers who are being cheated out of their wages, the wages they were due for seniors facing elder abuse,” she said.  GOLD STAR DAD RECALLS KNOCK AT HIS DOOR THAT ‘CHANGED EVERYTHING’ Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket last month, when Biden dropped out of the race amid mounting concern over his mental acuity and age. Harris accepted the nomination this week, vowing she would serve all Americans, no matter their political party, if she is elected to the Oval Office.  “My entire career, I have only had one client. The People. And so, on behalf of the People, on behalf of every American. Regardless of party. Race. Gender. Or the language your grandmother speaks. On behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey. On behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with. People who work hard. Chase their dreams. And look out for one another. On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth,” she said.  “I accept your nomination for President of the United States of America.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Nepal lifts TikTok ban after blocking app over ‘social harmony’ concerns

Nepal lifts TikTok ban after blocking app over ‘social harmony’ concerns

Move comes weeks after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was sworn into office following the collapse of the previous government. Nepal has lifted its ban on TikTok less than a year after blocking the Chinese-owned application out of its stated concern for “social harmony”. Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung announced the decision on Thursday following a cabinet meeting. The move comes after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, who was sworn in last month after the collapse of the previous coalition government, issued a directive calling for the equal treatment of all social networking platforms, state-run National News Agency reported. Al Jazeera understands that the decision was made after TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, communicated with the Nepalese government in recent weeks to assure it that it would abide by all legal requirements, promote digital safety, and establish a designated channel for content-related requests from authorities. TikTok said it was pleased to see the ban lifted. “The creativity and passion of our community has brought joy to households across Nepal and opened vital economic opportunities to incredibly talented creators and businesses. We’re excited to be able to continue enabling Nepali voices and creativity as we work to support the success story of Nepal,” a TikTok spokesperson said. The previous government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal banned the app in November, citing the spread of content that “disturbs social harmony and disrupts family structures and social relations”. TikTok, one of the world’s most popular social media platforms with more than one billion monthly users, has been slapped with restrictions in dozens of countries amid concerns about its effect on young people and alleged national security risks. Nepal’s neighbour India banned the app outright in 2020 along with dozens of other Chinese-developed apps following violent skirmishes along the India-China border. Earlier this month, the United States Department of Justice sued TikTok for allegedly violating legislation that requires platforms to obtain parental consent to collect the personal information of users under 13. Adblock test (Why?)

South Korea blames deadly battery plant fire on safety failures

South Korea blames deadly battery plant fire on safety failures

Aricell also accused of manipulating test samples from previous inspections and for hiring unskilled labourers. A deadly fire at a South Korean lithium battery factory in June broke out as the company raced to meet a deadline without taking action to address signs of dangerous quality failures, police said. At least 23 people were killed at the Aricell lithium battery plant during the massive blaze, in one of the country’s worst industrial disasters in years. Manufacture Aricell, which also produces batteries for South Korea’s military, had failed a quality inspection in April and subsequently increased production to make up the backlog, police official Kim Jong-min said on Friday. It hired temporary and unskilled workers, contributing to a jump in product defect rates, including overheating of finished batteries, but did not take action to contain safety risks, Kim said. The company was trying to produce 5,000 batteries a day and “started excessive manufacturing”, police added. Further investigations showed that Aricell had passed previous quality inspections by manipulating test samples since it started supplying battery products to the military in 2021, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The Ministry of Employment and Labor and police asked for an arrest warrant for three officials of Aricell, including CEO Park Soon-kwan. Gross deficiencies “The accident occurred as the company pushed ahead without taking measures despite problems in various steps in the production process,” Kim added. Police further said that the company did not comply with factory safety laws, including a lack of emergency exits and inadequate safety education for employees who did not speak Korean. Security camera footage showed the fire sparking from a stack of batteries and quickly engulfing the factory where 35,000 lithium batteries were stored. The spread of toxic smoke probably rendered workers unconscious within seconds, fire officials have said. Seventeen of those who died were Chinese, and one was Laotian. The rest were South Koreans. “Because of gross deficiencies, the majority of workers were found on the other side of the emergency exit – even though there were 37 seconds in which they could have evacuated after the initial explosion on June 24,” said Kim. South Korea has faced a number of deadly incidents in recent years, including the Halloween stampede, which have been blamed on the failure to implement safety rules. On Thursday, a short circuit or other electrical causes was believed to have sparked a fire at a hotel in Bucheon, west of the capital, Seoul, leaving seven dead and a dozen of others injured. Adblock test (Why?)

India’s Modi arrives in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

India’s Modi arrives in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

Indian prime minister expected to push settlement on ending Ukraine war, even if seen as being too close to Russia. India’s Narendra Modi has arrived in Kyiv, where he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking the first time an Indian prime minister has visited the country since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Modi is expected to discuss economic ties and cooperation in defence, science and technology, while also broaching the contentious subject of a settlement to end the war with Russia. “No problem can be resolved on a battlefield,” Modi said ahead of his visit, adding that India supports “dialogue and diplomacy for restoration of peace and stability as soon as possible”. It is unclear whether the Indian leader could be an effective dealmaker, seen by many in Ukraine as being too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Alex Gatopoulos said India would have to “perform this tightrope act” between the West and Russia. “It is a Russian client state. The vast majority of its military equipment is Russian-made, so India cannot afford to alienate Russia either,” he said. India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian arms, and has sought to capitalise on cheaper Russian oil as the United States and European countries seek to limit the Russian energy sector’s access to the global marketplace via sanctions. Modi’s meeting with Zelenskyy comes a month and a half after he was in Moscow for talks with Putin, a visit that coincided with Russian missile strikes on Ukraine that hit a children’s hospital, which the Indian leader implicitly criticised during the bilateral summit. Modi and Putin agreed to increase bilateral trade to $100bn by 2030, increasing investments, eliminating nontariff trade barriers and using national currencies to circumvent sanctions. The meeting elicited fierce criticism from Zelenskyy, who said it was a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day”. Al Jazeera’s Gatopoulos said Modi’s visit to Moscow was intended to put himself forward as a mediator. “Whether that’s going to be successful or not, we will tell in the coming days,” he said. ‘A certain influence’ The visit comes at a crucial juncture in the war, after Ukrainian forces mounted a lightning offensive on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6 while Russian troops continue to make advances in Ukraine’s east. On Friday, the Ukrainian Air Force said 14 of 16 Russian attack drones had been destroyed overnight. Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station in what it called an act of “nuclear terrorism”. India has avoided explicit condemnation of Russia’s 2022 invasion and has abstained on United Nations resolutions that criticise Russia, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through direct dialogue. Still, India has good relations with both Russia and the West, Ukraine’s principal backer, and some analysts believe Modi could play a role in pushing the two sides towards talks. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Modi’s visit to Kyiv was significant because India “really has a certain influence” over Russia. Peace summit Ukraine has said it hopes to bring together a second international summit later this year to advance its vision of peace and involve representatives from Russia. The first summit in Switzerland that excluded Russia in June attracted many delegations, including one from India, but not from China. Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst, said he expected no breakthrough proposals to be made to end the war during the trip by Modi, who visited Poland on Thursday. For there to be an attempt to negotiate, the military situation has to stabilise and the presidential election must be held in the United States, a close ally of Ukraine, he said. He said the visit was important for India to demonstrate it was “not on Russia’s side” and that Kyiv wanted to normalise relations after Modi’s Moscow trip. Adblock test (Why?)