Trump hits Harris on US Afghan withdrawal ‘calamity’

Trump hits Harris on US Afghan withdrawal ‘calamity’
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives remarks at the National Guard Association of the United States' 146th General Conference & Exhibition Michigan in Detroit, Michigan, on August 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 27 August 2024
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Trump hits Harris on US Afghan withdrawal ‘calamity’

Trump hits Harris on US Afghan withdrawal ‘calamity’

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Monday tied Vice President Kamala Harris to the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan as he paid tribute to 13 troops killed in a suicide attack on the third anniversary of their deaths.

It was Trump who, as president in 2020, struck a deal with the Taliban for the United States to withdraw from the country.

But it was President Joe Biden who, after delaying it by a few months, finally implemented the retreat in 2021, one of the administration’s lowest points.

Trump regularly slams Biden over it, but has pivoted to blaming Harris for White House policy decisions since she replaced the 81-year-old Democrat as his rival for the White House.

In Detroit to address the National Guard Association of the United States, the Republican ex-president, 78, argued that the “humiliation” of the withdrawal destroyed US credibility and was “caused by Kamala Harris (and) Joe Biden.”

“Now, the voters are going to fire Kamala and Joe on November 5, we hope, and when I take office... I will get the resignations of every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan calamity to be on my desk at noon on inauguration day,” he said.

Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital Kabul on August 15, 2021, after the US-backed government collapsed days ahead of the planned withdrawal date and its leaders fled into exile.

A suicide bomb attack killed 13 US troops and 170 Afghans on August 26 at the crowded perimeter of Kabul’s international airport, where an unprecedented military airlift operation got more than 120,000 people out of the country in a matter of days.

Before US troops were able to secure the whole airport, the world witnessed tragic scenes of panicked Afghan civilians mobbing airliners and even falling to their deaths as they attempted to cling onto departing planes.

Ahead of Trump’s speech, his campaign pointed to previous Harris statements that she was the last person in the room before Biden made the call to withdraw from Afghanistan.

“By her own admission, Kamala Harris was a key player in the disastrous withdrawal,” it said in statement.

“She bragged about being the last person in the room for the fateful decision, was ‘front and center’ for the security briefings, and even laughed as a reporter asked her about the American citizens still trapped in Afghanistan.”

The White House released a classified review of the withdrawal in April last year, acknowledging intelligence failures but blaming Trump for creating the conditions leading to the rout.

In a declassified summary, the administration said the February 2020 deal between Trump and the Taliban had placed the incoming Biden government in an impossible position by agreeing a date for withdrawal, but providing no plan for executing it.

Harris released a statement offering prayers for “13 devoted patriots” and the loved ones they left behind. “My heart breaks for their pain and their loss,” she said.

Earlier Monday, Trump took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia for the slain service members.

The former president has been hammered repeatedly over inflammatory public comments and alleged private remarks about veterans.

Earlier this month he said the country’s top civilian award was “much better” than the elite military honor, because the service members who receive their medal are “in very bad shape” or “dead.”


UK’s Starmer faces calls for detail on trumpeted EU ‘reset’ plans

UK’s Starmer faces calls for detail on trumpeted EU ‘reset’ plans
Updated 5 min 41 sec ago
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UK’s Starmer faces calls for detail on trumpeted EU ‘reset’ plans

UK’s Starmer faces calls for detail on trumpeted EU ‘reset’ plans
  • UK leader under pressure to be more precise about what exactly he wants for Britain from the EU — and what he is willing to give in return

LONDON: UK leader Keir Starmer heads to Brussels on Wednesday for the first time as prime minister, looking to build on a promised “reset” of relations with the European Union that were strained by Brexit.
Starmer will hold his first formal meeting with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen since his Labour party ousted the Conservatives from power in a general election in July.
It is a further sign of new British goodwill toward European neighbors following the UK’s rancorous 2020 departure from the bloc under Brexit champion Boris Johnson.
But Starmer is also under pressure to be more precise about what exactly he wants for Britain from the EU — and what he is willing to give in return.
“It’s symbolic of this great blowing away of the fog that’s been across the Channel,” professor Richard Whitman, an EU expert at the University of Kent, said.
“But I think it’s also probably the prelude to a reality check on the side of the UK that it’s going to be a long old slog if you’re going to get anything worth boasting about in terms of improving the relationship.”
Starmer’s Brussels sojourn follows recent bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian premier Giorgia Meloni.
In July, he hosted dozens of leaders at the European Political Community meeting in July and pledged to rebuild bridges with Europe.
Downing Street said Starmer will use the Brussels trip to discuss “his ambitions for the next few months” with von der Leyen and other EU leaders.
Ahead of the visit, he said he was “so determined to put the Brexit years behind us and establish a more pragmatic and mature relationship” with the EU.
Starmer, who voted in the 2016 referendum to remain in the EU, has insisted that his reset will not mean reversing Brexit, which remains a politically toxic subject in the UK.
Instead, Labour wants improvements to the existing Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the UK and the EU that is due for renewal in 2026.
These include negotiating a new security pact with the 27-member bloc, a veterinary agreement to ease border checks on farm produce and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
But Starmer has put forward little detail, while also laying down red lines for any negotiations, pledging no return to the European single market or customs union, or any return to freedom of movement.
“Starmer has to present the plan,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
Starmer has also poured cold water on the EU’s big proposal so far — a youth mobility scheme for 18- to 30-year-olds.
Brexit ended the free movement of EU citizens to live and work in Britain, and vice versa.
The EU would like younger people from its member countries to be able to move freely in the UK.
But Starmer has rejected the idea over fears it looks too much like freedom of movement. The interior ministry is resistant to anything that increases levels of legal migration.
The EU’s ambassador to the UK, Pedro Serrano, played down the notion that the proposal was a stumbling block last week, when he likened it to a “gap year” that would not give EU citizens the right to work in Britain.
Analysts say Labour could be tempted by a limited exchange program if it helps to achieve its overarching objective of boosting economic growth.
Starmer met von der Leyen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.
According to European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer, Wednesday’s meeting “will simply be the beginning of a conversation.”
An EU diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity insisted the chat would focus on “broad brushstrokes,” with nothing concrete expected from it.
“The general feeling is that yes, there’s a positive mood, yes, we need to keep on implementing the current agreements and yes, there may be areas where there could be the possibility for structured cooperation.
“But a lot of work would need to go in to defining how anything could work,” the diplomat said.


Danish police investigate two blasts near Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen

Danish police investigate two blasts near Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen
Updated 32 min 20 sec ago
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Danish police investigate two blasts near Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen

Danish police investigate two blasts near Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen
  • Investigators were seen wearing coverall suits as they combed the scene for evidence

COPENHAGEN: Danish police said on Wednesday they were investigating two blasts in the vicinity of Israel’s embassy in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen.
“No one has been injured, and we are carrying out initial investigations at the scene,” Copenhagen police said on social media platform X.
“A possible connection to the Israeli embassy, ​​located in the area, is being investigated,” they said.
A large area was cordoned off amid heavy police presence, according to local media reports.
Investigators were seen wearing coverall suits as they combed the scene for evidence, tabloid B.T. reported.
The Israeli embassy was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.
Police said they will give an update on the investigation at 0530 GMT.


Thai police arrest driver and work to identify victims of the school bus fire that killed 23

Thai police arrest driver and work to identify victims of the school bus fire that killed 23
Updated 02 October 2024
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Thai police arrest driver and work to identify victims of the school bus fire that killed 23

Thai police arrest driver and work to identify victims of the school bus fire that killed 23
  • The fire started while the bus was on a highway north of the capital and spread so quickly many were unable to escape

BANGKOK: Thai police have arrested the driver of a bus carrying young students and teachers that caught fire and killed 23 in suburban Bangkok, as families arrived in the capital Wednesday to help identify their loved ones.
The bus carrying six teachers and 39 students in elementary and junior high school was traveling from Uthai Thani province, about 300 kilometers north of Bangkok, for a school trip in Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces Tuesday. The fire started while the bus was on a highway north of the capital and spread so quickly many were unable to escape.
Trairong Phiwpan, head of the police forensic department, said 23 bodies were recovered from the bus. The recovery work and confirmation of the total dead had been delayed earlier because the burned vehicle, which was fueled with natural gas, remained too hot to enter for hours.
The families were driven from Uthai Thani in vans to the the forensic department at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok on Wednesday to provide their DNA samples for the identification process. Kornchai Klaiklung, assistant to the Royal Thai Police chief, told reporters the forensics team was working as fast as it could to identify the victims.
The driver, identified by the police as Saman Chanput, surrendered Tuesday evening several hours after the fire. Police said they have charged him with reckless driving causing deaths and injuries, failing to stop to help others and failing to report the accident.
The driver told investigators he was driving normally until the bus lost balance at its front left tire, hit another car and scraped a concrete highway barrier, causing the sparks that ignited the blaze, Chayanont Meesati, deputy regional police chief, told reporters.
The driver said he ran to grab a fire extinguisher from another bus that was traveling for the same trip but he could not put out the fire, and ran away because he panicked, Chayanont said.
Police said they are also investigating whether the bus company followed all safety standards.
In an interview with public broadcaster Thai PBS, bus company owner Songwit Chinnaboot said the bus was inspected for safety twice a year as required and that the gas cylinders had passed the safety standards. He also said he would compensate the victims’ families as best as he could.
Three students are hospitalized, and the hospital said two of them were in serious condition. A 7-year-old girl suffered burns on her face, and a surgeon said doctors were doing their best to try to save her eyesight.


Taiwan shuts down for Typhoon Krathon, torrential rain forecast

Taiwan shuts down for Typhoon Krathon, torrential rain forecast
Updated 02 October 2024
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Taiwan shuts down for Typhoon Krathon, torrential rain forecast

Taiwan shuts down for Typhoon Krathon, torrential rain forecast
  • Although the typhoon has weakened, the threats from a storm surge, strong winds and rain remain
  • The typhoon has revived the older generation’s bad memories of Thelma, prompting extra precautions

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan: Taiwan shut down on Wednesday, grounding hundreds of flights and closing schools, offices and financial markets ahead of the arrival of a weakening Typhoon Krathon, forecast to lash the coast with storm surges and torrential rain.
Officials in the key port city of Kaohsiung, set to be in the eye of the storm, told people to stay home and avoid the sea, rivers and mountains, warning of a repeat of 1977’s Typhoon Thelma that killed 37 and devastated the city of 2.7 million.
Although the typhoon has weakened, the threats from a storm surge, strong winds and rain remain as it slowly makes its way toward Taiwan’s coast, weather forecasters said.
The typhoon would lose power once it hit land, said Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chi-mai, but would still bring intense winds and rain.
“But if it moves north, the winds will strengthen again, so the threat to Kaohsiung will continue to exist, and people cannot take this lightly,” he told reporters.
All the island’s cities and counties declared a day off, shutting financial markets and canceling domestic flights, along with 246 international ones, while more than 10,000 people were evacuated, mostly in the south and east.
Typhoons often hit Taiwan’s mountainous and sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific, but Krathon is set to make landfall on its flat western plain.
It is forecast to hit between Kaohsiung and its neighboring city of Tainan in the early hours of Thursday, before heading northeast up toward Taipei, the capital, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
“Because of Typhoon Gaemi being quite severe earlier this year, everyone is more cautious and prepared this time around,” said sales representative Yu Ren-yu, 35, picking up sandbags at a government office, referring to July’s storm that killed 11.
“First be prepared, then we can face this typhoon.”
The typhoon has revived the older generation’s bad memories of Thelma, prompting extra precautions, said Chou Yi-tang, a government official working in the Siaogang district home to the airport.
“We were hit directly by the eyewall,” he added, describing events almost five decades ago. “Power was out for two weeks and no water for almost a month. It was disastrous.”
More than 700 sandbags have been distributed in his district, a record for a typhoon, while authorities are making more to meet demand, Chou said.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had put more than 38,000 troops on standby.
The fire department reported 46 injuries, mostly in the mountainous eastern county of Taitung, with one person missing in the central county of Yunlin.
The north-south high speed rail line stayed open, but scaled back services.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple and Nvidia supplier, said on Tuesday it did not expect the typhoon would have a significant impact on operations.
TSMC’s factories are along the west coast, some in the city of Tainan.


Walz, Vance argue running mates would reduce Mideast instability

Walz, Vance argue running mates would reduce Mideast instability
Updated 02 October 2024
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Walz, Vance argue running mates would reduce Mideast instability

Walz, Vance argue running mates would reduce Mideast instability
  • The role of a presidential running mate is typically to serve as an attack dog for the person at the top of the ticket, arguing against the opposing presidential candidate and their proxy on stage

NEW YORK: Tim Walz and JD Vance on Tuesday each pointed to the crises of the day as reasons for voters to choose their respective running mates for president, opening their vice presidential debate by addressing the growing fears of a regional war in the Middle East and a natural disaster that has ravaged the southeastern US
Walz, answering a question on whether he’d support a preemptive strike on Iran as it’s launched missiles into Israel, quickly pivoted to painting Donald Trump as too dangerous for the country and the world in an unstable moment.
“What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter,” said Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota. “And the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment.”
Vance, in his reply, argued that Trump is an intimidating figure whose presence on the international stage is its own deterrent.
“Donald Trump actually delivered stability,” he said.
The debate in New York hosted by CBS News opened with a sober tone that reflected growing domestic and international concerns about safety and security. It gives Vance, a Republican freshman senator from Ohio, and Walz, a two-term Democratic governor of Minnesota, the chance to introduce themselves, make the case for their running mates, and go on the attack against the opposing ticket.
Both men found unity on Hurricane Helene, which has devastated several states and caused massive flooding in North Carolina in particular. Walz mentioned the storm’s devastation and talked about working with governors across the country, saying they don’t let politics get in the way of collaborating.
Vance said, “I’m sure Gov. Walz joins me in saying our hearts go out to those innocent people.”
Tuesday’s matchup could have an outsized impact. Polls have shown Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump locked in a close contest, giving added weight to anything that can sway voters on the margins, including the impression left by the vice presidential candidates. It also might be the last debate of the campaign, with the Harris and Trump teams failing to agree on another meeting.
The role of a presidential running mate is typically to serve as an attack dog for the person at the top of the ticket, arguing against the opposing presidential candidate and their proxy on stage. Both Vance and Walz have embraced that role.
Vance’s occasionally confrontational news interviews and appearances on the campaign trail have underscored why Trump picked him for the Republican ticket despite his past biting criticisms of the former president, including once suggesting Trump would be “America’s Hitler.”
Walz, meanwhile, catapulted onto Harris’ campaign by branding Trump and Republicans as ” just weird,” creating an attack line for Democrats seeking to argue Republicans are disconnected from the American people.
A new AP-NORC poll found that Walz is better liked than Vance, potentially giving the Republican an added challenge.
After a Harris-Trump debate in which Republicans complained about the ABC News moderators fact-checking Trump, Tuesday’s debate will not feature any corrections from the hosts. CBS News said the onus for pointing out misstatements will be on the candidates, with moderators “facilitating those opportunities.”
Trump, on Tuesday evening, said his advice to Vance was to “have a lot of fun” and praised his running mate as a “smart guy” and “a real warrior.”
As they’ve campaigned, both Walz and Vance have played up their roots in small towns in middle America, broadening the appeal of Harris and Trump, who hail from California and New York, respectively.
Walz, 60, frequently invokes his past job coaching a high school football team as he speaks about his campaign with Harris bringing “joy” back to politics and weds his critiques of the GOP to a message to Democrats that they need to “leave it all on the field.”
Walz, a Nebraska native, was a geography teacher before he was elected to Congress in 2006. He spent a dozen years there before he was elected governor in 2018, winning a second term four years later.
He also served 24 years in the Army National Guard before retiring in 2005. His exit and description of his service have drawn harsh criticism from Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, including in Iraq.
The 40-year-old Vance became nationally known in 2016 with the publication of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which recounts his childhood in Ohio and his family’s roots in rural Kentucky. The book was cited frequently after Trump’s 2016 win as a window into working-class white voters who supported his campaign. Vance went to Yale Law School before working as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.
After the publication of his book, he was a prominent critic of Trump’s before he morphed into a staunch defender of the former president, especially on issues like trade, foreign policy and immigration.