Gaza war: How Biden adopted call for ‘ceasefire’ without shifting policy
Washington, DC – Cheers erupted when United States Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza earlier this month. But while her words seemed to echo calls for an end to Israel’s war, critics say she fell short of announcing a real policy shift. Speaking in Selma, Alabama, on March 3 to commemorate a 1965 civil rights march, Harris drew attention to the ongoing human rights crisis in Gaza, which has been the subject of a relentless Israeli bombing campaign since October. “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire,” she said, adding: “for at least the next six weeks”. The administration of US President Joe Biden had largely avoided calling for a ceasefire up to that point. Still, Palestinian rights advocates have zeroed in on Washington’s language to highlight how, while the administration’s choice of words may have changed, its position has not. Biden and his officials have long called for a pause in the fighting to get Israeli captives out of Gaza and more aid into the territory. But they have stopped short of pushing for an end to Israel’s military offensive. Sandra Tamari, the executive director of the Adalah Justice Project advocacy group, said Biden’s position does not satisfy their rallying cry for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. “As a Palestinian, I feel gaslighted every day by this administration,” Tamari told Al Jazeera. “Biden really thinks that we’re stupid and that we can’t see through this propaganda.” Pause versus permanent ceasefire The US government has been working to secure a deal that would see a temporary suspension of the fighting, in exchange for the release of the nearly 130 Israelis held captive in Gaza by Hamas and other groups. Washington has also said such a pause would increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory. Biden’s Democratic allies have cited his efforts to strike a truce as a rebuttal to criticisms that he has not gone far enough to end Israel’s war in Gaza. “Is the #CeasefireNow chorus going to pressure Hamas to enter into a ceasefire?” US Congressman Ritchie Torres asked on social media last month, commenting on a New York Times headline that described Hamas as “dashing Biden’s hopes of a near-term deal”. But rights advocates have tried to highlight the difference between Biden’s push for a temporary truce and the enduring peace they seek. That is why many activists have been adding the qualifiers “lasting” and “permanent” to their demands for a ceasefire. Beth Miller, the political director for Jewish Voice for Peace Action, said it is “unacceptable” that Biden is only calling for a pause in the fighting while refusing to use US leverage to end Israel’s war. The US, after all, sends billions of dollars worth of aid and weapons to Israel each year. “We are calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire that will end the bombardment and the killing of Palestinians in Gaza. That is what we are demanding when we are calling for a ceasefire,” Miller told Al Jazeera. “That is the only way to prevent and to stop this unfolding genocide. It is the only way for hostages to be released. It is the only way for the siege to be lifted and for there to be moving forward a path where people can actually live in peace and in justice.” Democratic US Congresswoman Cori Bush (right) holds a sign saying ‘Lasting Ceasefire Now’ as President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address on March 7 [Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP] For now, though, the Biden administration has yet to call for an end to the war. In a Ramadan message on Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred to a possible truce as a ceasefire. “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is heartbreaking,” Blinken said in a statement. “As we deliver additional aid to Gaza, we will continue to work non-stop to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire for at least six weeks as part of a deal that releases hostages.” Earlier this year, however, the Biden administration put forward a different definition for a ceasefire. The White House’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on January 22 that the US only wants a temporary pause to the fighting — something he framed as distinct from calls for a ceasefire. “We don’t support a general ceasefire, which is usually put in place in the expectation that you’re going to end a conflict, that it’s going to lead to specific negotiations,” Kirby said at that time. ‘Not a ceasefire’ In recent weeks, Biden himself has been using the word ceasefire regularly while addressing the conflict. “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is, by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire,” the US president said on February 26, while eating ice cream in New York. Josh Ruebner, an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University’s Justice and Peace programme, said the rhetorical shift within the administration shows it is responding to popular pressure in support of a ceasefire. But he emphasised that the term itself does not signal a policy shift. “What the Biden administration is advocating for is a temporary pause in the fighting to last six weeks to get Israeli hostages out, to get the clock past the time when Ramadan is taking place, so that Israel can then resume its genocidal actions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” Ruebner told Al Jazeera. “And that, of course, is not a ceasefire at all.” Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Democrats, a left-wing advocacy group, stressed that progressives have been calling for a lasting ceasefire that would not allow Israel to carry on “bombing and destroying Gaza” after a few weeks. “The cause of this ethnic cleansing and genocide is Israel’s assault on the Palestinian people. And allowing that to continue in any fashion is unacceptable,” he told Al Jazeera. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 749
As the war enters its 749th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Fighting At least three people were killed and 38 injured, 10 of them children, after a Russian missile hit two apartment buildings in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. Groups of pro-Ukraine Russian volunteer fighters opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin said they carried out cross-border raids from Ukraine into Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it thwarted seven attacks and that some 234 fighters were killed. Moscow said it brought down 25 Ukrainian drones over eight regions that were part of a sweeping attack on energy facilities including Russia’s second-biggest oil refinery. Russia claimed to have taken control of the village of Nevelske in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine’s general staff said Russian attacks in the area had been repelled. Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency said it uncovered 15 members of a network it alleged was engaged in pro-Russian “informational sabotage”. The SBU said it had detained four of them, including a cleric at the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). The SBU said the network was linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). Politics and diplomacy Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited the United States where he urged Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to quickly pass a bill that would provide Ukraine with $60bn in new military assistance. Tusk said Johnson’s failure to act would cost “thousands of lives”. Tusk’s appeal came as Democrats and a small group of centrist Republicans launched separate long-shot efforts to force a vote on the aid package, which has been stalled for months amid opposition from hardline conservatives. French lawmakers voted in favour of a 10-year Ukraine security accord that includes a commitment to send up to 3 billion euros ($3.2bn) in military aid to Kyiv in 2024. Thousands of people took to the streets of Slovakia’s capital Bratislava to protest against the government and to show their support for Ukraine. Since taking power last October, the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico has criticised Europe’s military aid to Ukraine and pushed to renew ties with Russia Weapons The White House announced it would be able to send new military aid to Ukraine worth $300m after “unanticipated” cost savings from Pentagon contracts. The funds will be used for artillery rounds and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). Ukraine’s Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov spoke on the phone with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on weapons deliveries. Syrskyi said ammunition and air defence were key priorities. Denmark’s Defence Ministry said it would provide a new military aid package including Caesar artillery systems and ammunition to Ukraine worth about 2.3 billion Danish crowns ($336.6m). European Union countries appeared set to agree on a deal on the European Peace Facility, a military aid fund for Ukraine, as soon as Wednesday. Adblock test (Why?)
Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe blast: NIA detains key suspect in major breakthrough
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday detained a key suspect for questioning in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe blast case.
Electoral Bonds case: 22,217 bonds purchased from 2019 to 2024, SBI tells SC
In a compliance affidavit filed in the apex court, the SBI said as per the court’s direction, it has made available the details of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India before the close of business hours on March 12.
Jewish activists blast ‘Squad’ Dem for ‘appalling’ defense of Farrakhan mural: ‘Lack of fitness to lead’
FIRST ON FOX: Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman recently argued that a mural of Minister Louis Farrakhan should remain in a New York City suburb, prompting outrage from Jewish activists. The “Squad” Democrat from New York recently sparked controversy over comments he made regarding a Black Lives Matter mural that featured Black figures, including Farrakhan, who has infamously made disparaging comments about Jews, including calling them the “the synagogue of Satan” and “termites.” “Regarding the minister, you know, he said many things that I fully disagree with, you know, period,” Bowman said during an interview last year according to a New York Daily News report about the mural in Westchester County. “But he is a part of Black history, you know? That’s a fact. And if the Greenburgh community — particularly that section of Greenburgh, you know — supports the mural, then the mural should be there as is.” Bowman’s position sparked strong pushback from Jewish advocates. SQUAD MEMBER IN FIRE ALARM FIASCO TAKES HEAT FROM WITHIN HIS OWN PARTY: ‘NEED NEW LEADERSHIP’ “Farrakhan has singlehandedly done more damage to the positive relations and cooperation among different minority groups that has existed since the civil rights movement,” Brooke Goldstein, human rights attorney and executive director of The Lawfare Project, told Fox News Digital. “Including Farrakhan on any sort of mural is nothing less than an attempt to whitewash his blatant racism, and to gaslight Americans into viewing him as anything other than a bigot,” Goldstein said. “Jamal Bowman’s failure to acknowledge the trauma caused by Farrakhan, and unwillingness to act on this mural, shows indifference to the harm and an appalling lack of fitness to lead, especially when it comes to minority rights.” “Louis Farrakhan is an unabashed Jew-hater who has used his very public platform to spread abhorrent antisemitic stereotypes, while at the same time recruiting and developing a veritable army of followers indoctrinated into the cult of hatred towards Jews and marginalized communities,” she continued. “Farrakhan – whose support for, and appreciation of, Islamist regimes like Iran, which deprive their own citizens of basic human rights while exporting global terrorism – has spread vitriol accusing Jews of, among many other things, seeking to manipulate and exploit Black people.” ‘SQUAD’ DEMOCRAT JAMAAL BOWMAN ARGUES BIDEN INACTION ON REPARATIONS IS HOLDING HIM BACK Lizzy Savetsky, a Jewish activist in nearby New York City, told Fox News Digital that it is “unconscionable and reprehensible that Rep. Jamal Bowman would choose to glorify a blatant antisemite like Louis Farrakhan.” “This is not just an error in judgment; it’s a blatant endorsement of hate and antisemitism. Such actions should not only be condemned but also met with the sternest opposition to prevent any semblance of acceptance for hate-filled bigots. Rep. Bowman must resign immediately.” Farrakhan has called Jewish people “termites”, praised Hitler, and has become one of the most controversial religious figures in the United States due to his derogatory comments about Israel. “Louis Farrakhan is one of the most notorious, vitriolic anti-semites in our country,” Congressman Carlos Giménez, who represents Miami-Dade County which is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the U.S. and the world, told Fox News Digital. “It is entirely reprehensible for any public official to use their platform to venerate someone who has perpetuated hateful canards and tropes for the purpose of ostracizing, targeting, and relegating the Jewish community. Whether as Mayor of Miami-Dade County or as Member of Congress, I have been proud to stand with the Jewish community against anti-semitism and hate in all of its forms.” Bowman’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the hotly debated taxpayer-funded mural. Bowman, who represents Greenburgh in Congress but did not at the time that the mural was constructed, told New York Daily News that Farrakhan has made “horrific” and “despicable antisemitic” comments but said “the local community living near the mural should have the power to decide how to move forward.” Bowman, who has been a vocal advocate of a cease-fire in Gaza which he said was “uplifting deeply what it actually means to be Jewish”, is not a stranger to controversy stemming from supporting radical activists. In 2014, Bowman honored a radical Black activist and convicted murderer during a special project at a New York City middle school he founded before he was elected to Congress. The special project wall included former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., a known antisemite and promoter of conspiracy theories, such as that Jews were responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks. Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and Emma Colton contributed to this report
Former top Biden aide confirms reports of WH official’s alleged bullying, sexual harassment of staffers
The reported actions of a top White House official that included allegations of longtime bullying and verbal sexual harassment of staffers are accurate, a former top Biden aide told Fox News Digital, who said the claims should trigger an internal investigation. On Tuesday, the New York Post reported that first lady Jill Biden’s top aide, Anthony Bernal, who is openly gay, has a history of questionable work conduct but is deemed “untouchable” because she views him as her “work husband.” Bernal, according to the report, has been known to speculate on the penis size of staffers in a move one of the publication’s sources believed was to make people uncomfortable and gain the upper hand. “It lines up with everything I experienced working there,” the former top Biden aide, who wished to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital of the report. REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND GOLD STAR FATHER ARRESTED AFTER HECKLING BIDEN AT SOTU “I’m surprised it has taken this long for so many staffers to speak out,” they said. “I wouldn’t be shocked if this empowered current and past staff to move forward.” According to the Post’s report, two individuals said Bernal shared his theory that a person’s thumb size correlates with their penis size. He allegedly did so in the current White House, in previous roles in the Biden campaign and during Biden’s vice presidency. “It is to make people uncomfortable and to have power over them,” one source told the publication. “It is Me Too – classic Me Too.” Another source told the Post that Bernal had often speculated on the penis size of several individuals, including political aides and Secret Service agents. A third added that before Biden’s presidency, Bernal told a colleague he had a small penis during a dispute. On another occasion, he commented on a “staffer’s bulge in his khakis.” “It was a lot of inappropriate remarks — talking about other people’s attractiveness and speculating about their sex lives at very weird moments,” the source told the Post. “That’s actually sexual harassment.” HUR INSISTS THAT HE ‘DID NOT EXONERATE’ BIDEN, REPEATEDLY SHUTTING DOWN DEMOCRAT CHARACTERIZATIONS Bernal also regularly questioned people’s sexuality and would attempt to poke into their personal lives, according to the report, which came after the publication spoke to nearly a dozen current and former staffers. The individuals said they came forward because they wanted Bernal held accountable for his actions. “If the White House Counsel is investigating the behavior of a junior staffer in the scheduling and advance office, does that mean they’re investigating Anthony Bernal, an assistant to the president, too?” the former top Biden aide told Fox News Digital. “A dozen sources seem like enough to trigger that type of internal investigation.” White House chief of staff Jeff Zients responded to the allegations by saying he and the Bidens have “full confidence in Anthony’s character.” “His many fans at the White House know him to be both gracious and tough, holding himself up to the highest standards, with a heart dedicated to public service,” Zients told the Post. “It is disappointing that he is the target of unfounded attacks from unnamed sources.” Meanwhile, the former aide also told Fox News Digital that Zients should be furious at the White House over the situation. “From a comms approach, I have no idea what the hell they were thinking by putting Jeff Zients’ name on a statement defending a guy accused by a dozen staffers of being a bully and worse,” the former aide said. “If I were Zients, I would be furious that I was left up the creek without a paddle. No one was protecting him in an effort to protect a serial abuser who has been a ticking time bomb for the Bidens for over a decade. If it weren’t for that book from a New York Times reporter, this would have continued to go unnoticed.” HUR TESTIFIES HE ‘DID IDENTIFY EVIDENCE’ THAT ‘PRIDE AND MONEY’ MOTIVATED BIDEN TO RETAIN CLASSIFIED RECORDS “Aside from associating the White House chief of staff with a culture of abuse, bullying and harassment, they have elevated a story in an outlet they rarely treat with any credibility,” the former aide added. “They go out of their way to tell everyone to ignore the [New York] Post. But when you provide a statement from the White House chief of staff, you’re giving the story an avalanche of credibility and providing a permission structure for other outlets and journalists to advance the story.” Sources told the Post they believe Bernal will not face consequences due to his proximity to the first lady. In her book, “Where the Light Enters,” she thanked Bernal, saying he provided her with “insights and guidance.” “He knows how much I love him and respect him,” she added. “Working for the Bidens is like living in another century,” a source told the Post. “You really cannot speak up without fear of personal or professional retaliation.” “He is by far the worst and most well-known abuser, but the Biden White House is a magnet for ugly and abusive workplace behavior,” they continued. “It’s totally inexcusable [in] this day [and] age, especially with Biden’s own narrative about standing up to bullies.” The White House and first lady’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment nor did they answer whether they would investigate Bernal’s actions.
Sen. Braun demands full audit of Medicare after massive fraud discovery
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., the ranking member on the Senate Special Committee on Aging, will send a letter to the Government Accountability Office Wednesday requesting a full audit of Medicare following recent reports of fraud. In a letter led by Braun, alongside Rick Scott, R-Fla., and JD Vance, R-Ohio, the senators will request GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro “audit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) internal oversight reforms.” The Republicans write that Medicare has an increasing tendancy to be targeted by “highly sophisticated fraud schemes, including online phishing, data breaches, and international fraud rings.” IOWA SENATOR SEEKS TO INCREASE GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY AND END BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S ‘SECRET SPENDING’ The senators cite an alleged catheter fraud scheme reported last month, in which hundreds of thousands of individuals were billed for catheters despite never ordering nor receiving them. According to a report, a health care group, the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations, assisted in recognizing the alleged fraud after reviewing billing data. The organization issued a warning to its members last month, relaying that $2.8 billion in 2023 Medicare claims were connected to the catheters, a 30% jump from prior estimates. SENATE GOP BILLS TARGET SANCTUARY CITIES AFTER LAKEN RILEY’S DEATH The scam has also prompted the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to issue a warning to consumers. Per the alert, Medicare recipients are being contacted via “phone calls, internet ads, and text messages” with offers for free services and medical products. However, when the scammer obtains the personal Medicare information of individuals, “monthly billing to Medicare will begin for medically unnecessary urinary catheters that may or may not actually be sent to the enrollee.” “The victims of Medicare fraud are often the most vulnerable Americans. I’m calling for a full audit of Medicare, so we can get to the bottom of the rampant fraud, waste and abuse,” Braun said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “It’s beyond alarming that this recent case of alleged Medicare fraud involving overbilling for urinary catheters went undetected for over a year and accounted for an additional $2.7 billion in taxpayer spending. American seniors deserve better.” CIA, INTEL DIRECTOR STRUGGLE TO SAY IF ISRAEL IS ACTUALLY ‘EXTERMINATING’ PALESTINIANS “In the private sector, even a minor level of fraud would lead to an immediate audit of one’s finances,” the senators’ letter states. Braun, Scott and Vance point to the GAO’s 2022 report, which revealed Medicare reported $47 billion in improper payments. In the past, it was estimated Medicare fraud has cost as much as $60 billion, which the senators also note. The group of Republicans explained that the substantial amount of fraud and improper payments “contributes to the nation’s $34 trillion deficit.” According to the senators, a reform that could benefit Medicare is “machine learning,” which could assist the program in preventing fraud and minimizing losses. In January, Braun joined Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., to introduce a bill aimed at stopping Medicare fraud and improving the program’s ability to defend against and detect fraud attempts. The measure would charge CMS with beginning a two-year pilot that would monitor Medicare-covered durable medical equipment and related purchases. Under the bill’s program, Medicare beneficiaries will be asked to verify some of their purchases, thereby affording the CMS more data access while also testing the pilot’s effectiveness.
‘What is PM Modi so scared of?’, asks Congress on electoral bonds issue
In his post, Ramesh also asked why the BJP ”accept Rs 4.9 crore in donations from four SEBI-designated shell companies”.
In AI age, lying and deceitful public figures are harder than ever to detect
It seems like trust – in politicians, in celebrities, in institutions – is fading fast around the globe. Some of this has to do with new technology, as it’s easier than ever to manipulate facts, sound and images. But it’s also rooted in old-fashioned lying and deception that have been around roughly forever. The royal uproar over Princess Kate altering a photo might seem like much ado about little, except that it has blown a hole in the family’s credibility, even though she’s one of its most popular members. At least she had the good sense to apologize. HOW LEFT AND RIGHT JUSTICES FOUND COMMON GROUND IN RESTORING TRUMP TO THE BALLOT Kate hasn’t been seen since Christmas, when she underwent abdominal surgery, unspecified because Buckingham Palace provided no details. Since there were concerns about her health, she put out a gorgeous photo of herself and her three kids, which ran around the world, for British Mother’s Day. But major photo services, led by the AP and Reuters, quickly retracted the picture after discovering it had been digitally altered. This may not have been the dreaded AI, but a simple Photoshop job. The Princess of Wales posted that “like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.” But come on. Kate knows full well that she was trying to reassure the British public about the state of her health and instead accomplished exactly the opposite. The Washington Post describes the reaction of veteran photographer Paul Clarke: “What was up with Princess Charlotte’s hand, which seemed distorted by the cuff of her sleeve? Why were her mother’s fingers so blurry against the crisp knit of Prince Louis’s sweater? Were those glints of professional catchlights in the family’s eyes, in a photo supposedly snapped by Prince William? The photo, Clarke noted in a social media post that quickly went viral, contained ‘numerous … manipulations easily visible.’” “He added: ‘What *were* they thinking?’” No one can quite figure that out. Yes, the picture looked too perfect, but was it intended to hide something more damaging? There is, to be sure, a clash of cultures here. As the paper puts it, “On one side, the ever-heightening expectations of celebrity perfection — smooth faces and cellulite-free thighs, best achieved with a little Photoshopping. On the other, certain ideals of journalistic transparency and integrity that are increasingly under assault as artificial intelligence deepfakes and cries of ‘fake news’ have wormed their way into culture.” Even Clarke is quoted as saying this wasn’t so bad: “We all want photos of our children smiling.” LIBERAL PUNDITS, URGING BIDEN TO WITHDRAW, PUSHING CONVENTION SCENARIO But the rules are different when your husband is heir to the British throne and your own health is suspect because of your desire, and that of the palace, to release as little information as possible. At the same time, what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did was far worse–he refused to tell the public, or his boss Joe Biden, that he’d secretly checked into the hospital for prostate cancer surgery. That brings us to Katie Britt. The Alabama senator had the unenviable task of delivering the response to the State of the Union, and while her presentation from her kitchen was rather awkward, I was appalled by the incessant piling on that reached a Mean Girls level. But the Republican lawmaker made a blatant miscalculation that she has not acknowledged. Britt was lambasting Biden’s border policies when she said a Mexican woman had told her a story of being held in sexual slavery. The unmistakable impression was that the president was to blame for the border crisis, which is of course a Democratic albatross, and this was a prime example. But it quickly turned out that the woman, Karla Jacinto, had nothing to do with Biden or even the United States. She now says that her years being sexually trafficked were between 2004 and 2008, long before Biden was president and even before he became vice president. He was just one of 100 senators. What’s more, everything happened in Mexico. Jacinto has never been to the U.S. She has never applied for asylum in the U.S. She was kidnapped in Mexico and rescued in Mexico four years later. When pressed by Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday,” Britt refused to concede an inch. She said the timing of her story had been clear and that it was fair to invoke the president’s policies. Jacinto, now an activist working with sex trafficking victims, disputed the senator’s account on CNN later that day. She said she had not been abducted by a Mexican drug cartel, as Britt had claimed. She said she met the senator at an event with activists and lawmakers, not in a one-on-one discussion with her, as Britt had said. People who are really trafficked and abused, as she [Britt] mentioned. And I think she [Britt] should first take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude. “I hardly ever cooperate with politicians, because it seems to me that they only want an image. They only want a photo — and that to me is not fair,” Jacinto said. She added that “people who are really trafficked and abused, as [Britt] mentioned. And I think she should first take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude.” If Britt had just said she didn’t mean to leave a misleading impression and needed to clarify things, the story wouldn’t have gotten worse for her every day. Now there is a long and illustrious history of lying and deceiving politicians and other famous people. Biden himself dropped out of his first White House campaign, in 1987, after admitting that he had plagiarized British political figure Neil Kinnock in his speeches. SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES Bill Clinton was lying when he said
At least one killed, 22 injured in northern China gas explosion
The blast took place near Beijing and is the latest in a string of incidents often blamed on lax safety standards. At least one person has been killed and 22 injured after a suspected gas explosion at a restaurant in northern China. The blast took place just before 8am (00:00 GMT) on Tuesday in the city of Sanhe, less than 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the capital, Beijing. The explosion was suspected to have been caused by a gas leak at a fried chicken shop, state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding that the injured had been taken to hospital. China has seen a series of deadly accidents in recent months, often caused by lax safety standards and poor enforcement. Rescue workers rushed to the scene of the Sanhe explosion, with the local Langfang fire service saying 36 emergency vehicles and 154 personnel had been dispatched. Police cordoned off streets, and directed people away from the area. “The fire is currently under effective control, and rescue work is being carried out urgently,” it said. Footage captured by a dashcam shows the panic after the explosion [Reuters] Video clips on the Chinese social media platform Weibo showed destroyed building facades, many mangled cars, and glass littering surrounding streets. Some objects were on fire. Another video on Chinese social media that was verified by the AFP news agency showed what appeared to be a building that had completely collapsed, and debris strewn across the street. Last month, at least 15 people were killed and 44 injured in a fire at a residential building in the eastern city of Nanjing. In January, dozens died after a fire broke out at a shop in the central city of Xinyu, with state news agency Xinhua reporting the blaze had been caused by the “illegal” use of fire by workers in the store’s basement. That fire took place just days after a blaze at a school in central Henan province killed 13 schoolchildren as they slept in a dormitory. Domestic media reports suggested the fire was caused by an electric heating device. Adblock test (Why?)