Trump calls for Biden to resign, as Dominic Raab accused of ‘going AWOL’ with week-long holiday

Published

4 years ago

August 16, 2021

admin

The UK and the US are facing criticism over their handling of the deepening crisis in Afghanistan.

Donald Trump has called for Joe Biden to resign in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover – describing the current situation as a “disgrace”.

In a statement, the former president wrote: “What Joe Biden has done with Afghanistan is legendary. It will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history!”

Live updates on Afghanistan as Taliban enters Kabul

However, Mr Trump has also been strongly criticised for the situation in Afghanistan as it was his administration which made the decision to withdraw troops and which made a deal with the Taliban in exchange for security guarantees.

The Trump administration agreed to the deal with the Taliban in February 2020.

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been accused of “going AWOL” after spending the past week on holiday abroad as the situation was unravelling.

Tom Tugendhat, a veteran and Conservative MP who now chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told the BBC that he does not know how the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will respond – adding this is “the biggest single policy disaster since Suez”.

Government officials have said that Mr Raab is personally overseeing the Foreign Office’s response, has engaged with international partners, and returned to the UK yesterday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the Taliban should not be recognised as the government of Afghanistan, but added it was clear there will be a new administration in the country very soon.

He has also called for the West to adopt a “united position … so that we do whatever we can to prevent Afghanistan lapsing back into being a breeding ground for terror”.

Mr Johnson confirmed that Sir Laurie Bristow, the UK’s ambassador to Afghanistan, has been “working around the clock” to evacuate British citizens – and has been at Kabul’s airport to help process applications.

The prime minister added: “Our priority is to make sure that we deliver on our obligations to UK nationals in Afghanistan, to all those who helped the British effort in Afghanistan over 20 years, and to get them out as fast we can.

“We are going to get as many as we can out in the next few days.”

The UN Security Council is going to meet later today.

Another 1,000 troops have been sent to Afghanistan to help evacuate US personnel and keep Kabul’s airport secure – taking over air traffic control in the process.

However, the rapid collapse of the country’s government means American officials are increasingly concerned about the potential for a rise in terrorist threats against the US.

Back in June, senior leaders at the Pentagon had said that an extremist group such as al Qaeda could regenerate in Afghanistan and pose a threat to the US homeland within two years.

Because of the evolving situation, they now believe that terrorist organisations may be able to grow much faster than expected.

US intelligence agencies are now working on a new timeline based on these developing threats.

All of this comes as officials push back against criticism of what has widely been seen as an intelligence failure – and the hurried evacuations out of Kabul have been likened to the 1975 fall of Saigon.

Last month, President Joe Biden said the prospects of the Taliban “overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely” – something that the hardline Islamist group has now managed to achieve in just over a week.

One senior intelligence official told the AP news agency: “A rapid Taliban takeover was always a possibility … As the Taliban advanced, they ultimately met with little resistance. We have always been clear-eyed that this was possible, and tactical conditions on the ground can often evolve quickly.”

Veterans have also expressed dismay at how quickly Afghanistan has fallen after 20 years of conflict, with more than 450 British personnel losing their lives during the war.

Jack Cummings, a former Royal Engineer, said: “Was it worth it, probably not. Did I lose my legs for nothing, looks like it. Did my mates die in vain, Yep.”

US

Trump seeking to ‘manufacture a crisis’ in Chicago, says Illinois governor

Published

12 hours ago

August 24, 2025

admin

Trump seeking to 'manufacture a crisis' in Chicago, says Illinois governor

The governor of Illinois has accused Donald Trump of “attempting to manufacture a crisis” over reports the US president was considering deploying the military in the state.

US newspaper The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the Pentagon was drafting plans to deploy the US army in Chicago, the state capital.

It comes as part of Mr Trump’s crackdown on crime, homelessness, and illegal immigration in mainly Democrat-run cities. He recently deployed the National Guard in Washington DC.

In a statement responding to the report, governor JB Pritzker said Illinois had “received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention”.

He added: “The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority.

“There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalising the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active duty military within our own borders.”

The governor then said: “Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicise Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families.

“We will continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect the people of Illinois.”

Officials familiar with the proposals told the Post that several options were being weighed up by the US defence department, including mobilising thousands of National Guard troops in Chicago as early as September.

The Pentagon said it would not comment on planned operations, adding: “The department is a planning organisation and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”

Mr Trump, however, told reporters on Friday that “Chicago is a mess,” before attacking the city’s mayor Brandon Johnson and hinting “we’ll straighten that one out probably next”.

Mr Johnson has not yet commented on Saturday’s reports, but said on Friday that the president’s approach to tackling crime has been “uncoordinated, uncalled for and unsound”.

“There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them,” he added.

It comes after around 800 National Guard troops were deployed in Washington DC earlier this month, despite the US capital’s mayor revealing crime in the capital was at its “lowest level in 30 years”.

According to preliminary figures from Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police, violent crime is down 26% in 2025 – after dropping 35% in 2024 compared with 2023.

In June Mr Trump ordered 700 US Army marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in California, during protests over mass immigration raids.

The deployment came against the wishes of state governor Gavin Newsom, who said: “The federal government is sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate.

“That is not the way any civilised country behaves.”

US

Ghislaine Maxwell was given ‘platform to rewrite history’, say Virginia Giuffre’s family

Published

15 hours ago

August 24, 2025

admin

Ghislaine Maxwell was given 'platform to rewrite history', say Virginia Giuffre's family

The family of Virginia Giuffre, who was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent sex trafficking accusers, have said they are “outraged” over the US Department of Justice’s release of an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell – a convicted sex trafficker and ex-girlfriend of the deceased paedophile financier Epstein – refuted several claims of child sex trafficking and abuse during the two-day-long interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July.

Reacting after the transcripts of the interview were released on Friday, Ms Giuffre’s family said it gave Maxwell the “platform to rewrite history” and showed she was “never challenged about her court-proven lies”.

“As the family of one of the most prominent survivors, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, we are outraged,” they said in a statement.

“The content of these transcripts is in direct contradiction with felon Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction for child sex trafficking.”

Ms Giuffre’s family added: “This travesty of justice entirely invalidates the experiences of the many brave survivors who put their safety, security, and lives on the line to ensure her conviction, including our sister.”

Referencing Maxwell’s move to a minimum-security facility in Texas earlier this month, they said it “sends a disturbing message that child sex trafficking is acceptable and will be rewarded”.

“We continue to call upon the DOJ (Department of Justice) to do its job by investigating and holding accountable the many rich and powerful people who enabled Ghislaine Maxwell’s and Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes,” they concluded.

Ms Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, had previously claimed that Maxwell introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, before she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.

She sued Prince Andrew for sexual abuse in August 2021 – saying he had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by Epstein.

The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.

In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.

During her interview with Mr Blanche last month, Maxwell said Ms Giuffre’s allegation against the duke “doesn’t hold water”, and denied ever introducing Epstein to him or Sarah Ferguson.

She insisted Epstein and Andrew met separately, and said “I think Sarah [Ferguson] is the one that pushed that”, before saying that allegations Andrew had sex with Ms Giuffre were untrue, as she was at her mother’s 80th birthday celebrations in the countryside outside the city.

Maxwell then claimed Ms Giuffre’s allegation that she and Andrew had sexual contact in the bathroom of her London flat was not true, as the room was not big enough.

She also claimed that an image of her standing alongside Andrew with his arm around Ms Giuffre’s waist was “literally a fake photo”.

During the interview with Mr Blanche, Maxwell denied ever seeing US President Donald Trump in an “inappropriate setting” and insisted she was not aware of any Epstein ‘client list’.

Under growing pressure to release files related to Epstein, as he promised to do during his 2024 presidential campaign, Mr Trump has made a series of denials and claims about the paedophile financier.

In July, the president told reporters on Air Force One that Epstein “stole” Ms Giuffre and other young women from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Mr Trump has also floated a pardon for Maxwell, saying earlier this month that “nobody” had asked to but insisted that he has “the right to do it”.

“I’m allowed to do it, but nobody’s asked me to do it. I know nothing about it,” he added. “I don’t know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it.

“I have the right to give pardons, I’ve given pardons to people before, but nobody’s even asked me to do it.”

Maxwell was sentenced in the US in June 2022 to 20 years in prison following her conviction on five counts of sex trafficking for luring young girls to massage rooms for Epstein to abuse. She has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.

Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

His case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories due to his and Maxwell’s links to famous people like royals, presidents and billionaires, including Mr Trump.

No one other than Epstein and Maxwell has been charged with any criminal offences.

US

Names released of five killed in Niagara Falls tour bus crash

Published

15 hours ago

August 24, 2025

admin

Names released of five killed in Niagara Falls tour bus crash

The five people who died after a tour bus returning to New York City from Niagara Falls crashed have been named.

The bus, with 54 passengers on board, crashed and rolled on Interstate 90 near Pembroke, about 30 miles (48km) east of Buffalo, New York, at around 12.30pm (5.30pm UK time) on Friday.

In an update on Saturday, New York State Police said that those who died were identified as:
• Shankar Kumar Jha, 65, of Madhu Bani, India;
• Pinki Changrani, 60, of East Brunswick, New Jersey;
• Zhang Xiaolan, 55 of Jersey City, New Jersey;
• Jian Mingli, 56, of Jersey City;
• Xie Hongzhuo, a 22-year-old student at Columbia University, from Beijing, China.

After the student was named, Columbia University said in a statement that the faculty was “devastated”.

“This heartbreaking loss is felt deeply across our community,” it added. “We are in close contact with her family and offering them our full support.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with her family, friends, and all who have been touched by this tragedy.”

Erie County Medical Center, where 21 passengers were hospitalised for injuries, said that as of Saturday afternoon, 14 patients are in stable condition but remain at the hospital.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash, which did not involve any other vehicles. The driver had not been charged in connection with the incident as of Friday.

State police major Andre Ray said in a news conference that the driver had become distracted, lost control and overcorrected before the bus went into the right shoulder and flipped over.

“An absolute tragedy took place,” he added. “And first and foremost, our thoughts, prayers and hearts go out to those involved, their friends and their families.”

Mr Ray added that a preliminary investigation had ruled out mechanical failure or driver impairment, and that the driver survived the crash and was cooperating with police.