‘Bharat Jodo Yatra introduced idea of love in politics’: Rahul Gandhi says in Texas
The Congress leader also said that India has to think about the act of production and organising production.
House GOP releases scathing report on Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan
Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released a scathing report that took a fine-toothed comb to the military’s botched 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal and highlighted areas of serious mismanagement. The Republican-led report opens by harkening back to President Joe Biden’s urgency to withdraw from the Vietnam War as a senator in the 1970s. That, along with the Afghanistan withdrawal, demonstrates a “pattern of callous foreign policy positions and readiness to abandon strategic partners,” according to the report. The report also disputed Biden’s assertion that his hands were tied to the Doha agreement former President Trump had made with the Taliban establishing a deadline for U.S. withdrawal for the summer of 2021, and it revealed how state officials had no plan for getting Americans and allies out while there were still troops there to protect them. Here’s a roundup of the findings of the 600-page report, comprised of tens of thousands of pages of documents and interviews with high-level officials that spanned much of the last two years: The report found that Biden and Vice President Harris were advised by top leaders that the Taliban were already in violation of the conditions of the Doha agreement and, therefore, the U.S. was not obligated to leave. HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS BLINKEN OVER AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL The committee also found NATO allies had expressed their vehement opposition to the U.S. decision to withdraw. The British Chief of the Defense staff warned that “withdrawal under these circumstances would be perceived as a strategic victory for the Taliban.” Biden kept on Zalmay Khalilzad, a Trump appointee who negotiated the agreement, as special representative to Afghanistan – a signal that the new administration endorsed the deal. At the Taliban’s demand, Khalilzad had shut out the Afghan government from the talks – a major blow to President Ashraf Ghani’s government. When Trump left office, some 2,500 U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan. Biden himself was determined to draw that number to zero no matter what, according to Col. Seth Krummrich, chief of staff for Special Operations Command, who told the committee, “The president decided we’re going to leave, and he’s not listening to anybody.” Then-State Dept. spokesperson Ned Price admitted in testimony the Doha agreement was “immaterial” to Biden’s decision to withdraw. The report also details numerous warning signs the State Department received to draw down its embassy footprint as it became clear Afghanistan would quickly fall to the Taliban. It refused to do so. At the time of the withdrawal, it was one of the largest embassies in the world. In the end, Americans and U.S. allies were left stranded as the military was ordered to withdraw before the embassy had shuttered. In one meeting, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian McKeon rejected military officials’ warnings, saying “we at the State Department have a much higher risk tolerance than you guys.” Gen. Austin Miler, the longest-serving commander in Afghanistan, confirmed McKeon’s comments and explained that the State Department did not have a higher risk tolerance but instead exhibited “a lack of understanding of the risk” in Afghanistan. Asked why McKeon would make such statements, the officer explained, “The State Department and the president were saying it. Consequently, [Wilson] and others start saying it, thinking that they will make it work.” The report lays blame on former Afghanistan Ambassador Ross Wilson, who instead of shrinking, grew the embassy’s presence as the security situation deteriorated. Revealing little sense of urgency, Wilson was on a two-week vacation on the last week of July and the first week of August 2021. An NEO, a noncombatant evacuation operation to get personnel out, was not ordered until Aug. 15 as the Taliban marched into Kabul. There weren’t enough troops present to begin the NEO until Aug. 19, and the first public message from the embassy in Kabul urging Americans to evacuate wasn’t sent until Aug. 7. And while there weren’t enough military planes to handle the evacuations, it took the Transportation Department until Aug. 20 to allow foreign planes to assist. Wilson fled the embassy ahead of his entire embassy staff, the report found. He reportedly had COVID-19 at the time but got a foreign service officer to take his test for him so that he could flee the country. Acting Under Secretary Carol Perez told the committee the embassy’s evacuation plan was “still in the works” when the Taliban took over, despite months of warning. Wilson testified that he was “comfortable” with holding off on the NEO until Aug. 15, while Gen. Frank McKenzie described it as the “fatal flaw that created what happened in August.” As the Taliban surrounded Kabul on Aug. 14, notes obtained by the committee from a National Security Counsel (NSC) meeting reveal the U.S. government still had not determined who would be eligible for evacuation nor had they identified third countries to serve as transit points for an evacuation. Fewer cases for special immigrant visas (SIVs) to evacuate Afghan U.S. military allies like interpreters were processed in June, July and August – the lead-up to the takeover – than the four months prior. When the last U.S. military flight departed Kabul, around 1,000 Americans were left on the ground, as were more than 90% of SIV-eligible Afghans. The report found that local embassy employees had been de-prioritized for evacuation, with many turned away from the embassy and airport in tears. On the day of the Taliban takeover, the U.S.’ only guidance for those who might be eligible for evacuation was to “not travel to the airport until you have been informed by email that departure options exist.” And since the NSC did not send over guidelines for who was eligible for evacuation and who to prioritize because they were “at risk,” the State Department processed thousands of evacuees with no documentation. The U.S. government had “no idea if people being evacuated were threats,” one State Department employee told the committee. After the final troops left Afghanistan, volunteer groups helped at
Democrats driving religious vote away from party as Trump courts Catholics: ‘Anti-Christian’ party
The Democratic Party is pushing away the religious vote with “anti-Christian” policies as former President Donald Trump works to court Catholics and other Christians, Catholic League President Bill Donohue said. “They’re anti-Christian, and it’s driving people out,” Donohue said in a phone interview of Democrats, citing similar comments from former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who recently endorsed Trump. “And the guys I’m talking to, it’s not even so much abortion. It’s just they feel like they don’t speak their language anymore. This whole idea of letting men compete against women in sports abuses the bathrooms, they think they’ve just gone off the deep end.” Donohue spoke to Fox News Digital about the Trump campaign launching the “Catholics for Trump” coalition, which aims to build “a nation where the rights of every individual to practice their faith freely is protected.” “Kamala Harris hates Catholics and everything we hold sacred. We can’t pretend otherwise. Our institutions, families, culture and belief in the sanctity of all human life are the antithesis of her vision for America. Donald Trump and JD Vance — and now RFK — are the antidote to the ruling class that has destroyed our country,” Brian Burch, president of conservative non-profit, CatholicVote, said in the Trump campaign’s press release. TRUMP APPLAUDS CATHOLIC GROUP’S MULTI-MILLION ANTI-HARRIS CAMPAIGN APPEALING TO CHURCH FAITHFUL Trump on Sunday even wished the Virgin Mary a happy birthday. The Catholic Church recognizes the birthday of Jesus’ mother on Sept. 8, which falls nine months after the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8 each year. President Biden, who is Catholic, dropped out of the presidential race at the end of July. Donohue said that Biden exiting the race likely won’t affect the Catholic vote overall, beyond perhaps benefiting Harris due to voters not being as familiar with her policies. “I would suspect that in terms of Biden dropping out, it might help Harris a little bit, if only because she’s less well known. But once people find out that her views are indistinguishable from that of Biden’s, including born alive protection laws … when the baby is born as a result of a botched abortion, the Democrats – for most of them, not all, most of them –say that the doctor has no obligation to rescue the child. You can just let the child die at the table. Most Americans are opposed to that,” Donohue said. PRIEST AT TRUMP RALLY WHO GAVE BENEDICTION WARNED OF ‘PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SHOOT’ FORMER PRESIDENT Harris voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, legislation that would have penalized health care workers who fail to help care for babies born alive after a failed abortion, in 2020 when she served as a California senator. Harris is an ardent supporter of abortion access overall and made history alongside her future 2024 running mate when she visited a Minnesota Planned Parenthood earlier this year – in what was seen as the first time a sitting U.S. vice president has ever visited an abortion provider. Trump secured the majority of the Catholic vote in his successful 2016 election cycle against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at 52% to Clinton’s 45%, Pew Research data show. In 2020, 52% of all Catholic voters cast their ballots for Biden, and 47% for Trump, according to Gallup. Donohue noted that there’s a vast difference between how practicing Catholics vote, versus baptized Catholics who no longer practice their faith, explaining that religious Catholics “have almost nothing in common” with secular Catholics, who more frequently vote for Democrats. He added that the same is often true for religious Jews versus cultural Jews, and evangelical protestants versus mainline protestants. BIDEN ‘DOESN’T UNDERSTAND THE CATHOLIC FAITH,’ BISHOP SAYS: ‘I’M NOT ANGRY AT HIM, HE’S JUST STUPID’ In addition to the Catholics for Trump coalition, the campaign launched the “Believers for Trump” coalition, which works with various religious communities to end the Biden-Harris administration’s “anti-faith agenda for good,” according to its website. “The Democrat Party and the Harris-Biden Administration have waged war on Christianity with their support for abortion up until birth, the Department of Justice targeting and imprisoning pro-life activists, and the FBI plotting to infiltrate Catholic masses to spy on attendees,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “Kamala and Biden also shamefully declared the Holiest Day on the Christian Calendar as ‘Trans Visibility Day’ and allowed a transgender activist to take off their shirt and expose themselves on the White House South Lawn. President Trump will restore the Christian conservative values of faith, family, and freedom, end the Harris-Biden Administration’s discrimination against Christians, and stand up for religious freedom, as he did in his first term.” Donohue added that the Catholic vote historically supported Democrats until the 1960s. “Everybody was a Democrat. All Catholics were Democrats. That didn’t shift until really late ‘60s, early ’70s, certainly by the time ‘72, when McGovern was running against Nixon. And people said, ‘wait a minute.’ But then Catholics felt homeless, because the Republicans never wanted the Catholics. The Republicans were always the party of abortion,” he said. George McGovern ran against President Nixon as a Democrat in the 1972 presidential election and was billed as the candidate who supported “amnesty, abortion and acid,” just a year ahead of the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Fast-forward to current times, the GOP has become the pro-life party. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, with Trump praising the decision and now campaigning on a platform where abortion laws are left to the individual states. TRUMP PROMISES ‘CHRISTIAN VISIBILITY DAY’ “Since Dobbs, abortion has been more of a monkey on the back of Republicans. They’ve lost because some of the pro-life extremists in the Republican Party tried to go for all or nothing, but that’s a fool’s proposition. We always lose on that. You have to make exceptions, the proverbial exceptions everybody accepts. And you know, later into the term, there’s less tolerance for abortion.
Elon Musk pledges support for Second Amendment: ‘Tyrants’ disarm the people
Tech billionaire Elon Musk did not mince words when declaring his support for the Second Amendment on Sunday. “The right to bear arms is there to protect free speech and stop a tyrannical government from taking your rights away! That’s why the first thing that all tyrants do is disarm the people, just like Chavez did when he was first elected. After that, no more real elections in Venezuela,” Musk posted to his X account on Sunday. Musk was responding to an interview clip of Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock joining NBC News on Sunday, when he was asked whether Vice President Kamala Harris should support a mandatory gun buyback program. Buyback programs are government initiatives to purchase privately owned firearms in order to reduce the number of guns in circulation. Harris supported such mandatory programs during her failed 2020 run for the Oval Office and has since backed away from actively supporting mandatory buyback initiatives. TRUMP SAYS HE’LL ASK ELON MUSK TO LEAD GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY COMMISSION IF HE WINS ELECTION “Should she also be, in your opinion, supporting a mandatory gun buyback program,” NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Warnock, just days after the tragic Georgia school shooting that killed four people. “We’re not going to be able to get where we need to go without action in Congress. We’ve got to pass some laws to deal with this. Now, I was heartened by the fact that two years ago, we finally did a gun safety law — the Safer Communities Act. And it was the first gun safety law we passed in 30 years, 30 years. And it was modest, but it did save lives, but clearly, in the wake of what happened just the other day in Winder, Georgia, is not enough,” Warnock responded. Musk, who has described himself as a “historically moderate Democrat,” endorsed former President Donald Trump for president earlier this year and has previously pledged his support for the Second Amendment. TRUMP-MUSK INTERVIEW: 5 BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO THE US BORDER CRISIS “I strongly believe that the right to bear arms is an important safeguard against potential tyranny of government. Historically, maintaining their power over the people is why those in power did not allow public ownership of guns,” Musk told CNBC in 2022. His latest statement supporting Americans’ rights to bear arms has garnered praise from conservatives and those in the 2A community. TRUMP IMPERSONATES ELON MUSK TALKING ABOUT ROCKETS: ‘I’M DOING A NEW STAINLESS STEEL HUB’ Trump said last week that if he wins the election in November, he will appoint Musk to lead a government efficiency commission. “I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government,” Trump said in a speech Thursday at the Economic Club of New York. The comment comes after Musk suggested the creation of a government efficiency commission last month during a conversation he hosted with Trump on X. “I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises. No pay, no title, no recognition is needed,” Musk posted on X after Trump said he would follow through on Musk’s idea of establishing such a commission if he wins in November. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Nikki Haley breaks with Trump on IVF proposal, still says she’s ‘on standby’ for campaign
Nikki Haley broke with former President Trump’s stance regarding IVF treatment, but still said she was “on standby” to campaign for the Republican nominee. Haley, who was the last Republican presidential candidate to drop from the GOP race before Trump became the nominee, said during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that she had spoken with Trump in June and that “he’s aware that I’m ready if he ever needs me” to campaign for him. With this election, Haley said, “there’s a lot at stake” with two administrations asking to be re-elected. Her main concerns, she says, are her children, with the cost of living and housing so high, the cost of goods up 20%, immigration and safety “with foreign entities coming in and the threats we could face,” and energy. “And so there’s just a lot going on,” Haley told CBS host Margaret Brennan. “To me, the stark contrast between a Trump and Harris administration are what led me to say, yes, I need to, you know, I’m going to be voting with Trump, and I’m going to speak at the convention. And so that’s what I did.” EARLY VOTING MEANS ‘ELECTION SEASON’ MAY BEGIN VERY SOON Haley noted that Trump’s team has not asked her to campaign, and that she has not been advising him for debate prep. “He can, you know, whatever he decides to do with his campaign, he can do that. But when I called him back in June, I told him I was supportive. I think the teams have talked to each other a little bit, but there hasn’t been an ask as of yet. But you know, should he ask, I’m happy to be helpful.” While voicing her overall support for Trump, Haley said she disagreed with his recent pledge to mandate that either the government or insurance companies pay for in vitro fertilization, or IVF treatment, for women. “It’s not a policy I support any more than it’s a policy of Kamala Harris to remove private health insurance, or Medicare for All,” Haley said. Brennan interjected saying that Trump is head of the Republican Party, but Haley shot back that “you also have to talk about the head of the Democrat Party.” “When you talk about Medicare for All, when you talk about removing private health insurance, you might as well be Canada. You might as well look at socialist health care,” Haley said. “We never want to get to that point, because you’re not going to get IVF or anything else, cancer drugs or anything else when it comes to that.” Haley said both of her children are results of fertility treatment. “We want that option to be available to everyone. But the way you do it is, you don’t mandate coverage. Instead, you go and you make sure that coverage is accessible, and you make sure that you’re doing everything you can to make it affordable. That comes with regulations,” Haley added. “Kamala has put down – her and Biden put down a lot of regulations on a lot of things. Trump has relieved those regulations so that we need to have more of an important policy conversation than sound bites. And I do think this election has become about sound bites, and I think we have to get to the substance of it.” FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NIKKI HALEY LANDS NEW JOB Brennan cited CBS polling as indicating that support among female voters has grown to a double-digit lead for Vice President Harris over Trump since Biden stepped out of the race, clearing her to become the Democratic presidential nominee. She asked Haley whether Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is contributing to the divide after remarks resurfaced last week of him highlighting how the head of the most powerful teachers’ union in the country does not have a child of her own. Vance’s criticism was directed at Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, during a forum held by the Center for Christian Virtue in October 2021 when he was running for Senate. In the resurfaced clip, Vance stated that “if she wants to brainwash and destroy the minds of children, she should have some of her own and leave ours the hell alone.” “He continues to say things that certainly are highlighted as being offensive to women,” Brennan offered to Haley on Sunday. “That is going to hurt, won’t it, with female voters?” “It’s not helpful. It’s not helpful,” Haley responded. “Look, you can either look at style, or you can look at substance. I choose as a voter to look at substance,” she added. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The substance is cutting taxes, making housing more affordable, immigration, national security, that’s the substance,” Haley elaborated. “The style is – no, it is not helpful to talk about whether women have children or whether they don’t. It’s not helpful to say any of those things that are personality-driven or anything else. I have said that, and I will continue to say to Republicans, ‘Stop it.’ That’s not helpful. You know, if you want to talk about things, stick with policy. Americans are smart. They don’t need all of this other noise to distract them.”
Sen. John Fetterman makes prediction for Trump and Harris debate: ‘It’s going to be close’
Sen. John Fetterman on Sunday acknowledged that both former President Trump and Vice President Harris can hold their own in a debate, saying that whatever happens during the ABC News Presidential Debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday, “it will be close.” Fetterman, D-Penn., made the remarks during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” while responding to a question about what Harris must do during the debate to win over key voters in battleground state Pennsylvania. “I also want to just say that it’s going to be a straight-up debate,” Fetterman said. “She’s going to do great, of course, but Donald Trump will be good, too. I mean, we can all remember he wrecked all of the Republicans. He’s a good debater. But at the end of the day, I don’t believe this debate’s going to be definitive because it’s going to come down to this choice, and it’s going to be close.” Fetterman said Pennsylvania “is always going to be close” in terms of votes during the presidential election, and thinks that the focus of voters will be on “order” versus “chaos.” TRUMP SLAMS ABC AHEAD OF PIVOTAL NETWORK-HOSTED DEBATE: ‘THEY’RE THE WORST, THEY’RE THE NASTIEST’ “I think a majority of Pennsylvanians are going to decide, ‘Hey, I want four years of order and fairness and unity and a different way forward.’ And I don’t think they want the kinds of dark days and chaos that Donald Trump provided for our nation,” the senator said. TRUMP CLAIMS NO ‘LIFTS’ OR ‘STANDS’ WILL BE ALLOWED AT DEBATE WITH KAMALA HARRIS Heading into what may be the only debate between the two candidates, a new poll finds Trump is maintaining his lead nationally over Harris. The latest results of the New York Times/Siena poll released on Sunday shows Trump garnering 48% of likely voters compared to 47% who indicated support for Harris. Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.
Haryana Assembly elections: Congress releases 2nd list of 9 candidates, Mohit Grover to contest from…
Congress has fielded Mohit Grover to contest from Gurugram.
Revisit the highlights and top interviews from the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival
Politicians broke news and took tough questions during the three-day festival.
Lebanon FM: Israel against Lebanon ceasefire, even if Gaza war ends
Abdallah Bou Habib discusses rising tensions along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel as fears of a regional war grow. Lebanon is grappling with rising tensions along its southern border with Israel, sparking fears of a broader regional war. The ongoing war on Gaza, now in its 11th month, has further complicated Lebanon’s already fragile security, drawing in domestic, regional, and international powers. As the situation grows more precarious, questions arise about Lebanon’s path forward and how it can withstand these shifting geopolitical realities. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib talks to Al Jazeera. Adblock test (Why?)
India records first suspected mpox case, male patient in isolation
The health ministry says the young patient recently travelled from a country experiencing the virus outbreak. India’s health ministry says it has recorded a suspected case of mpox found in a man who recently travelled from a country suffering an outbreak of the virus. The young male patient has been isolated in a hospital and is in stable condition, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday, adding that the world’s most populous nation had “robust measures” in place. “The case is being managed in line with established protocols, and contact tracing is ongoing to identify potential sources and assess the impact within the country,” the health ministry added. The ministry did not specify which strain of the mpox virus the patient might have, but tests were being conducted to confirm the infection. The clade 1b variety of mpox has triggered global concern because it seems to spread more easily through routine close contact. A case of the variant was confirmed last week in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa. India has detected 30 cases of an older strain, known as clade 2, between 2022 and March 2024. Formerly called monkeypox, the virus was discovered in 1958 in Denmark, in monkeys kept for research. It was first detected in humans in 1970. It is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals, but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact. Usually mild, it is fatal in rare cases. It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) changed the name monkeypox to mpox, saying the name of the disease appeared to be “racist”. Last month, the global health body declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant was identified. But the WHO added that the mpox outbreak is not another COVID-19. More than 17,500 mpox cases and 629 deaths have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since the start of the year, according to the WHO. Both strains – clade 1b and clade 1a – are present in the country. The DRC has received its first batch of mpox vaccines, which health authorities hope will help curb an outbreak that has prompted the United Nations to declare a global public health emergency. The virus has also been detected in Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. Adblock test (Why?)