Israeli forces launch deadly raids in occupied West Bank
Casualties mounting, with at least four Palestinians – including two minors – killed and dozens wounded. Israeli forces have killed at least four people, including two minors, in raids on multiple locations in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials reported on Wednesday. Israeli forces shot dead a 13-year-old boy, identified as Rami al-Halhuli, in the Shu’fat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday evening. The Israeli Border Police said he had fired fireworks at them. Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expressed support for Israeli soldiers amid outrage over the killing. “I salute the fighter who killed the terrorist,” Ben-Gvir posted on X. However, witnesses say the slain Palestinian teen had shot the fireworks upwards into the air, not at the Israeli forces, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan reported from occupied East Jerusalem. “Witness accounts have corroborated two videos that we’ve seen. One is of the boy shooting the fireworks up in the air, not in the vicinity of the Israeli soldiers. And the other is of him shot, lying on the ground, and his mother is seen devastated,” Khan said. “The mosque there has said they are going to declare a day of mourning tomorrow and a strike where all businesses will be closed in order for people to mourn his death.” The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it treated five others wounded by Israeli fire. لحظة تفجير عبوة ناسفة بآلية إسرائيلية في جنين#حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/61XIK2U1fs — الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 13, 2024 Translation: The moment an explosive device was detonated by an Israeli vehicle in Jenin. Overnight Israeli raids were also reported in the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarem, where shots were fired, and in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, where Israeli forces attacked a vehicle wounding a 35-year-old man and his three-month-old child. The Israeli police claimed they shot five men near the town of al-Jib, northwest of Jerusalem, as they were throwing Molotov cocktails. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said 23-year-old Zaid Ward Shukri Khalifa and 16-year-old Abdullah Mamoun Hassan Assaf were killed, according to the Wafa news agency. The three other men shot are being treated at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. “Border Guard fighters noticed 5 terrorists who had ignited Molotov cocktails and intended to throw them at drivers, endangering their lives. They opened fire on them, then arrested them and referred them for medical treatment,” the Israeli police posted on its Arabic account on X. Israeli forces also stormed the grounds of the Jenin Government Hospital, shooting one Palestinian man dead and wounding five others, Wafa reported. The victim, Rabie al-Noursi, was in his 20s, the agency said. A Wafa correspondent reported that Israeli forces stormed the hospital’s yard and opened fire at a group of civilians who were standing in front of the emergency department. The killing followed multiple raids across the city of Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp. Dozens of Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers, supported by drones and an undercover special unit, took part in the raid in the early hours of Wednesday, Wafa said. Adblock test (Why?)
US senators call on Biden to condition Israel aid on humanitarian access
Eight United States senators have sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling on him to offer Israel an ultimatum: expand aid to Gaza or lose US military assistance. The letter, released on Tuesday, is the latest effort by US legislators to question ongoing US support for Israel amid its war in Gaza. It also comes as Biden himself has shown more willingness to openly criticise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, both former presidential candidates, were among the senators who signed the letter. Other signatories include Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono, Maryland’s Chris Van Hollen and Oregon’s Jeff Merkley. They called on Biden to comply with Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which bars aid to countries that restrict access to humanitarian assistance. “According to public reporting and your own statements, the Netanyahu government is in violation of this law,” the eight senators said in the letter. “Given this reality, we urge you to make it clear to the Netanyahu government that failure to immediately and dramatically expand humanitarian access and facilitate safe aid deliveries throughout Gaza will lead to serious consequences, as specified under existing US law.” Israel has denied blocking humanitarian assistance for Gaza, but international workers have accused Israeli authorities of making aid delivery difficult, through ongoing violence, closed border crossings and other impediments. In February, for instance, United Nations workers accused Israel’s navy of firing on a convoy carrying food into northern Gaza. The Palestinian enclave has been under siege since October 7, with limited access to food, water and other basic supplies. More than 31,180 Palestinians have died in Israel’s military campaign, and more are at risk of starvation and malnutrition, according to experts. “The United States should not provide military assistance to any country that interferes with US humanitarian assistance,” the senators said in their letter. “Federal law is clear, and given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza and the repeated refusal of Prime Minister Netanyahu to address US concerns on this issue, immediate action is necessary to secure a change in policy by his government.” The UN has said regular ground deliveries equalling about 300 trucks a day are needed to meet the needs of Gaza’s population. Currently, a maximum of 150 are reaching the territory each day. The Biden administration announced last week that it would set up a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to deliver more aid by sea, although construction is expected to take several weeks. The US also recently began airdropping aid into the enclave. Biden, meanwhile, has made contradictory statements about how he intends to approach the mounting concerns over Israel’s military actions. On Saturday, for instance, he said that an invasion of the southern city of Rafah would be a “red line” for Israel not to cross. Still, he said he would never “leave Israel” nor “cut off all weapons” for the country. Israel receives $3.8bn in military financing and missile defence assistance from the US every year, and the country enjoys widespread bipartisan support in the US Congress. Still, a growing number of lawmakers, particularly on the left, have been willing to lodge criticism against the “ironclad” US ally. Progressive legislators in the US House of Representatives, including Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib, were among the first Congress members to call for a ceasefire in October last year. Those calls have since been reflected in the Senate. In January, Senator Sanders introduced a resolution that called on the US State Department to produce a report within 30 days examining whether Israel has committed human rights violations in its campaign in Gaza. The resolution, however, failed to pass the chamber, with a vote of 72 to 11 against it. Still, pressure has been building to premise ongoing US aid to Israel on the condition that humanitarian law is complied with. In February, Biden’s White House released a national security memorandum requiring countries that receive US weapons to provide written statements that they are acting within international law. But that measure has fallen short of the leverage critics hope the US will exercise over Israel. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has circumvented Congress to approve emergency arms transfers to Israel. It also continues to pursue more than $14bn in supplemental aid for the country. In an interview on Al Jazeera’s Bottom Line programme on Saturday, Senator Van Hollen said it was time for the Biden administration to send a message to Israel: “If you continue to ignore us, there will be consequences.” Adblock test (Why?)
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?)
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?)
Influencer Andrew Tate can be extradited to the UK after Romanian trial
Tate and his brother Tristan were detained on Monday night on allegations of sexual aggression dating back to 2012-2015. A Romanian court has approved a request from the United Kingdom to extradite controversial influencer Andrew Tate but said it would postpone the extradition until his criminal trial in Romania had come to an end. The court said on Tuesday it had also ruled that Tate and his brother Tristan should be released from police custody immediately. The Tates had been detained for 24 hours pending a ruling on the UK arrest warrant. The court of appeals said in a statement that it “rules to execute the arrest warrant and… to postpone handing over the requested person until the final verdict in the criminal case argued at the Bucharest court”. Tate and his brother Tristan were detained on Monday night on allegations of sexual aggression dating back to 2012-2015. The warrant was issued by Westminster Magistrates Court in London. The brothers’ PR team said they “categorically” deny the allegations against them. “We are innocent men, we are very innocent men and in time everyone is going to see that and we are very excited to finish this judicial process and clear our names,” Tate said as he was released from police custody. UK police told the Reuters news agency the Tates were part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking, adding that officers were working with Romanian authorities. “We appreciate the Bucharest Court of Appeal’s decision to postpone the extradition of Andrew and Tristan Tate,” Eugen Vidineac, the legal counsel for the defendants, said in a statement. “This ruling provides an opportunity for the brothers to participate fully in their defence and for the legal process to proceed in a transparent manner.” Tate’s brother Tristan was also detained on Monday night on allegations of sexual aggression [Daniel Mihailescu/AFP] Ultra-masculine lifestyle Tate, who gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics described as “toxic”, was indicted in June in Romania along with his brother and two Romanian women for human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. They have denied the charges. The case has since been with the Bucharest court’s preliminary chamber, which needs to decide whether the trial can start. A decision has yet to be made, with Romanian courts backlogged. The Tate brothers were held in police custody pending the criminal investigation from late December 2022 until April last year, to prevent them from fleeing the country or tampering with evidence. They were placed under house arrest until August and have since been under judicial control, a lighter preventive measure meaning they can move freely providing they check in regularly with the police. They are not allowed to leave the country. In 2022, the words “Andrew Tate” were among the most searched on Google. But many adults only learned of his existence in 2023. Tate went viral after he launched a bizarre Twitter attack on climate change activist Greta Thunberg. “Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions”, he wrote to her in December, posting a photo of him filling a Bugatti with petrol. Thunberg’s crushing reply referencing his “smalldickenergy” was retweeted more than 570,000 times. Giving tips on how to be successful, along with misogynist and sometimes violent maxims, Tate’s videos made him one of the world’s best-known influencers. Adblock test (Why?)
India’s Modi government rushes to regulate AI ahead of national elections
New Delhi, India — The Indian government has asked tech companies to seek its explicit nod before publicly launching “unreliable” or “under-tested” generative AI models or tools. It has also warned companies that their AI products should not generate responses that “threaten the integrity of the electoral process” as the country gears up for a national vote. The Indian government’s efforts to regulate artificial intelligence represent a walk-back from its earlier stance of a hands-off approach when it informed Parliament in April 2023 that it was not eyeing any legislation to regulate AI. The advisory was issued last week by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) briefly after Google’s Gemini faced a right-wing backlash for its response over a query: ‘Is Modi a fascist?’ It responded that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “accused of implementing policies some experts have characterised as fascist”, citing his government’s “crackdown on dissent and its use of violence against religious minorities”. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, junior information technology minister, responded by accusing Google’s Gemini of violating India’s laws. “‘Sorry ‘unreliable’ does not exempt from the law,” he added. Chandrashekar claimed Google had apologised for the response, saying it was a result of an “unreliable” algorithm. The company responded by saying it was addressing the problem and working to improve the system. In the West, major tech companies have often faced accusations of a liberal bias. Those allegations of bias have trickled down to generative AI products, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. In India, meanwhile, the government’s advisory has raised concerns among AI entrepreneurs that their nascent industry could be suffocated by too much regulation. Others worry that with the national election set to be announced soon, the advisory could reflect an attempt by the Modi government to choose which AI applications to allow, and which to bar, effectively giving it control over online spaces where these tools are influential. ‘Feels of licence raj’ The advisory is not legislation that is automatically binding on companies. However, noncompliance can attract prosecution under India’s Information Technology Act, lawyers told Al Jazeera. “This nonbinding advisory seems more political posturing than serious policymaking,” said Mishi Choudhary, founder of India’s Software Freedom Law Center. “We will see much more serious engagement post-elections. This gives us a peek into the thinking of the policymakers.” Yet already, the advisory sends a signal that could prove stifling for innovation, especially at startups, said Harsh Choudhry, co-founder of Sentra World, a Bengaluru-based AI solutions company. “If every AI product needs approval – it looks like an impossible task for the government as well,” he said. “They might need another GenAI (generative AI) bot to test these models,” he added, laughing. Several other leaders in the generative AI industry have also criticised the advisory as an example of regulatory overreach. Martin Casado, general partner at the US-based investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, wrote on social media platform X that the move was a “travesty”, was “anti-innovation” and “anti-public”. Bindu Reddy, CEO of Abacus AI, wrote that, with the new advisory, “India just kissed its future goodbye!” Amid that backlash, Chandrashekar issued a clarification on X adding that the government would exempt start-ups from seeking prior permission for deployment of generative AI tools on “the Indian internet” and that the advisory only applies to “significant platforms”. But a cloud of uncertainty remains. “The advisory is full of ambiguous terms like ‘unreliable’, ‘untested’, [and] ‘Indian Internet’. The fact that several clarifications were required to explain scope, application, and intent are tell-tale signs of a rushed job,” said Mishi Choudhary. “The ministers are capable folks but do not have the necessary wherewithal to assess models to issue permissions to operate.” “No wonder it [has] invoked the 80s feelings of a licence raj,” she added, referring to the bureaucratic system of requiring government permits for business activities, prevalent until the early 1990s, which stifled economic growth and innovation in India. At the same time, exemptions from the advisory just for handpicked start-ups could come with their problems — they too are vulnerable to producing politically biased responses, and hallucinations, when AI generates erroneous or fabricated outputs. As a result, the exemption “raises more questions than it answers”, said Mishi. Harsh Choudhry said he believes that the government’s intention behind the regulation was to hold companies that are monetising AI tools accountable for incorrect responses. “But a permission-first approach might not be the best way to do it,” he added. Shadows of deepfake India’s move to regulate AI content will also have geopolitical ramifications, argued Shruti Shreya, senior programme manager for platform regulation at The Dialogue, a tech policy think tank. “With a rapidly growing internet user base, India’s policies can set a precedent for how other nations, especially in the developing world, approach AI content regulation and data governance,” she said. For the Indian government, dealing with AI regulations is a difficult balancing act, said analysts. Millions of Indians are scheduled to cast their vote in the national polls likely to be held in April and May. With the rise of easily available, and often free, generative AI tools, India has already become a playground for manipulated media, a scenario that has cast a shadow over election integrity. India’s major political parties continue to deploy deepfakes in campaigns. Kamesh Shekar, senior programme manager with a focus on data governance and AI at The Dialogue think tank, said the recent advisory should also be seen as a part of the ongoing efforts by the government to now draft comprehensive generative AI regulations. Earlier, in November and December 2023, the Indian government asked Big Tech firms to take down deep fake items within 24 hours of a complaint, label manipulated media, and make proactive efforts to tackle the misinformation — though it did not mention any explicit penalties for not adhering to the directive. But Shekar too said a policy under which companies must seek government approvals before launching a product would inhibit innovation. “The government could consider constituting a
US prosecutor Robert Hur stands by assessment of Biden’s ‘poor memory’
Special Counsel Robert Hur has defended his assessment of President Joe Biden’s “poor memory”, as he gave testimony before members of the United States Congress on Tuesday. Hur told the House Judiciary Committee that the evaluation was fundamental to his investigation into whether the president intentionally hoarded classified documents during his time out of office. “My task was to determine whether the president retained or disclosed national defence information willfully — meaning knowingly and with the intent to do something the law forbids,” Hur told the committee. “For that reason, I had to consider the president’s memory and overall mental state.” Questions about Biden’s memory arose after Hur released a special report in February that described the president fumbling to recall details, including dates surrounding his son Beau’s death. In the report, Hur wrote that Biden, 81, would present to a jury “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. He did not recommend pressing charges. Nevertheless, his conclusions elicited criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats have accused the investigator of gratuitously referencing Biden’s age — which has become a charged election issue in 2024, as voters question whether he is fit for a second term. Republicans, meanwhile, seized on Hur’s report to suggest Biden was getting preferential treatment compared with former President Donald Trump, who has been indicted on charges related to retaining classified documents. Hur, a registered Republican, addressed the controversy in his testimony on Tuesday. “My assessment in the report about the relevance of the president’s memory was necessary and accurate and fair,” Hur told legislators. “I did not sanitise my explanation, nor did I disparage the president unfairly.” Pushback on Capitol Hill But top members of both parties in the House pushed back against Hur’s assessment on Tuesday. “You cannot tell me you’re so naive as to think your words would not have created a political firestorm,” Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat, said during the hearing, criticising Hur’s repeated invocation of Biden’s age. “You were not born yesterday. You understood exactly what you were doing,” Schiff continued. “It was a choice. You certainly didn’t have to include that language.” Also during the hearing, Representative Matt Gaetz and other members of the Republican Party accused Hur of using Biden’s memory as an excuse not to prosecute him. They also sought to portray Hur’s assessment of Biden as part of a long-running double standard that targeted Trump unfairly. In February’s report, Hur distinguished between Biden’s handling of classified documents and Trump’s, noting differences in the number of documents withheld and how they were returned. “After being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr Trump allegedly did the opposite,” Hur pointed out. But Gaetz revisited that point in Tuesday’s hearing. “Biden and Trump should have been treated equally,” Gaetz said. “They weren’t. And that is the double standard that I think a lot of Americans are concerned about.” Trump also weighed in on the hearing. “The DOJ [Department of Justice] gave Biden, and virtually every other person and President, a free pass,” he posted on social media. “Me, I’m still fighting!!!” For his part, Hur told legislators that “partisan politics had no place whatsoever in my work.” More balanced view Still, transcripts of the interviews Hur and his team had with Biden offer a more nuanced look at what happened, calling into question both Hur’s and Biden’s characterisations of how the events played out. The partially redacted transcripts were released on Tuesday, before Hur’s scheduled appearance before the House committee. They renewed scrutiny over one of the most high-profile descriptions in Hur’s original report: depicting Biden’s apparent confusion about the date of his son Beau’s death. Hur used the instance as an example of the president’s alleged memory lapses. But Biden quickly condemned Hur for mischaracterising him, holding an impromptu press conference in February to express his outrage. “How the hell dare he raise that?” Biden said at the time. “Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their damn business.” Tuesday’s transcripts show that Hur never directly asked Biden about his son. They also suggest Biden’s memory lapse was perhaps less significant than Hur detailed in the report. The investigator present at the time asked Biden about where he kept the things that he was “actively working on” while he was living in a rental home in Virginia immediately after leaving the vice presidency in January 2017. In that context, Biden brought up Beau’s illness and death as he talked about a book he had published later in 2017 about that period in his life. “What month did Beau die?” Biden said aloud, adding, “Oh God, May 30th.” A White House lawyer chimed in with the year, 2015. “Was it 2015 he died?” Biden asked again. He went on to recount in detail a story contained in the book — entitled Promise Me, Dad — about how his late son had encouraged him to remain engaged in public life after his vice presidency ended. Adblock test (Why?)
Three killed, 38 injured in Russian attack on Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih
Ten children are among those injured in the missile attack on apartment buildings as rescue teams search for survivors. A Russian missile has hit two apartment buildings in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing three people and injuring at least 38, with rescue teams sifting through rubble in a night-time search for survivors. Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, put the provisional injury toll from the attack on Tuesday at 28 adults and 10 children. “Two buildings were hit, one five storeys, one nine storeys,” Lysak wrote on Telegram. “The number of injured is constantly rising as is the number of children injured.” Video of the scene showed a blaze that erupted at the top of one apartment block and rescue teams carrying the injured out of shattered building entrances. “The emergency services and residents who care are rescuing residents blocked in their apartments and are continuing to search for anyone who might be under the rubble,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote. “Four people have already been rescued.” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was born and raised in Kryvyi Rih, said on Telegram that search operations “will continue as long as they are needed.” In his evening address, he said: “We will inflict losses on the Russian state in response – quite rightly. They in the Kremlin must learn that terror does not go unpunished for them.” The city of Kryvyi Rih has been frequently targeted by Russian forces throughout the conflict. Adblock test (Why?)
Colombia names attorney general amid political unrest under Gustavo Petro
Luz Adriana Camargo Garzon will lead probes into President Petro and his son after weeks of delay in the appointment process. Colombia’s Supreme Court of Justice has chosen Luz Adriana Camargo Garzon as the country’s new attorney general, amid ongoing turmoil for the government of President Gustavo Petro. Camargo was a former judge who worked for the attorney general’s office for 12 years, starting in the 1990s. She was also a prosecutor assigned to the Supreme Court of Justice, where she investigated ties between legislators and right-wing paramilitary groups. She is set to direct several delicate investigations, including a probe into accusations of illegal financing in Petro’s 2022 presidential campaign. The attorney general’s office is also in the midst of prosecuting Petro’s eldest son Nicolas, a former provincial legislator, for alleged corruption and money laundering, as part of an investigation that began more than a year ago. “With 18 votes, Luz Adriana Camargo Garzon was elected as the country’s new attorney general,” Gerson Chaverra, the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, told journalists on Tuesday. A total of 23 judges were eligible to vote. The previous attorney general — Francisco Barbosa, a prominent Petro critic — saw his four-year term end in February. Camargo’s appointment comes amid weeks of political tensions and protests over delays in naming an official to the role. In January, Petro presented three candidates to the Supreme Court to succeed Barbosa, having pledged to fill the impending vacancy with a woman. But the voting process had stalled in the weeks since. Last month, hundreds of pro-Petro protesters surrounded the Supreme Court to demonstrate against the slowdown. The United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for Barbosa’s replacement to be named swiftly, without any additional pressure on the court. On Tuesday, before Camargo was voted in, there was another shake-up in the process: Amelia Perez, long considered the frontrunner to fill the role, announced she would withdraw her candidacy. Perez’s prospects had dimmed in recent days, after her husband’s social media posts became the subject of scandal. According to publications like Semana magazine, Perez’s husband Gregorio Oviedo had used his online platforms to insult the Supreme Court and other judges, as well as blast the investigation into Petro’s son. Petro himself has been critical of the attorney general’s office for its probes into his campaign, and he has denied any wrongdoing. The first leftist president in Colombia’s modern history, Petro has also faced steep opposition from right-wing lawmakers. Prior to her appointment on Tuesday, Camargo worked for the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) between 2014 and 2017, where she directed the investigations team. While in that role, she was a colleague of current Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez. Carmago also consulted with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in the case of three Ecuadorean journalists kidnapped and killed by a Colombian armed group. As Colombia’s new attorney general, Carmago will oversee a case alleging that the younger Petro received money from accused drug traffickers in exchange for beneficial treatment in his father’s “Total Peace” plan — a framework for ending the armed conflict that has gripped Colombia for nearly 60 years. Carmago will also manage the long-running case against right-wing former President Alvaro Uribe for witness tampering and fraud, allegedly part of a scheme to discredit accusations he had ties to paramilitary groups. Uribe has denied the accusations against him. Adblock test (Why?)